The study analyzes the existing and developing solutions to tackle the problem of microplastics environmental pollution by reducing further microplastic emissions and collecting those already released.
According to the study, primary microplastics can be released during various stages of the plastic lifecycle, such as production, transport, use, maintenance, or recycling, while secondary microplastics mostly originate mostly from mismanaged plastic waste and as today, there is no exact estimate of the amount of released secondary microplastics to the environment. Furthermore, once they are formed, primary and secondary microplastics become undistinguishable and their distinction is irrelevant to their removal.
There have been ongoing successful initiatives to remove microplastics from open water, such as Seabin project , Cloud of Sea, and MP Collection on Vessels. It is important to intercept microplastics before they reach open water – remove them from water treatment plants following preliminary, primary, secondary, and tertiary treatments. Also, some technologies have been developed to remove microplastics from the land too, such as Nurdle technologies and Hoola One.
As study presents ongoing technologies and initiatives to solve the microplastic pollution, yet single solution would not be sufficient to tackle the microplastics from the environment. A long-term goal shall focus on further production and emission prevention in general.