Occurrence, effect, and fate of residual microplastics in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge: A state-of-the-art review

Zhang-Wei He; Wen-Jing Yang; Yong-Xiang Ren; Hong-Yu Jin; Cong-Cong Tang; Wen-Zong Liu; Chun-Xue Yang; Ai-Juan Zhou; Ai-Jie Wang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125035

Occurrence, effect, and fate of residual microplastics in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge: A state-of-the-art review

Bioresour Technol. 2021 Jul:331:125035. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125035. Epub 2021 Mar 23.

Authors

Zhang-Wei He¹, Wen-Jing Yang², Yong-Xiang Ren², Hong-Yu Jin², Cong-Cong Tang², Wen-Zong Liu³, Chun-Xue Yang⁴, Ai-Juan Zhou⁵, Ai-Jie Wang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China. Electronic address: zwhe@xauat.edu.cn.
² Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China.
³ School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁴ Heilongjiang Cold Region Wetland Ecology and Environment Research Key Laboratory, School of Geography and Tourism, Harbin University, Harbin 150086, China.
⁵ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518055, China.

PMID: 33820702
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125035

Abstract

The plastic products have large consumption over last decades, resulting in a serious microplastics (MPs) pollution. Specially, the main removal way of MPs from wastewater is to transfer MPs from liquid to solid phase, leading to its enrichment in waste activated sludge (WAS). Anaerobic digestion has been served as the most potential technique to achieve both resource recovery and sludge reduction, herein this review provides current information on occurrence, effect, and fate of MPs in anaerobic digestion of WAS. The effects of MPs on WAS anaerobic digestion are greatly related to forms, particles sizes, contents, compositions and leachates of MPs. Also, the presence of MPs not only can change the effects of other pollutants on anaerobic digestion of WAS, but also can affect the fates of them. Besides, the future perspectives focused on the fate, effect and final removal of MPs during WAS anaerobic digestion process are outlined.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Influence mechanism; Microplastics; Synergistic effect; Waste activated sludge.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Microplastics*
Plastics
Sewage*
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Wastewater

Substances

Microplastics
Plastics
Sewage
Waste Water