Green Chemistry and green process design for removing microplastics from the environment
Every water is different: the combination of know-how and exploratory spirit provides tailor-made solutions.
In addition to continuous improvement of the process, it is also important to gain a better understanding of the processes and the analysis of the behavior of microplastics and micropollutants in different waters and to expand the areas of application.
We are intensively researching the chemistry behind the processes for removing microplastics and micropollutants from different types of water to make even better predictions about removal rates and to further improve the accuracy of our solutions.
Insights into current research projects for microplastic removal
Our current research projects and feasibility studies deal, among other things, with the topics of sludge treatment, wastewater as a resource and the further use of microplastic agglomerates in new products (reuse) as well as the simultaneous removal of micropollutants such as PFAS and microplastics.
Research focus: microplastics from soils and sludge
Not only the oceans are contaminated with microplastics. Sludge from different processes can also contains large amounts of microplastics from households, industry, and surface water.
According to a study by the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), sludge from municipal sewage treatment plants is used on agricultural land as a supplement to traditional fertilizers. The global pollution is estimated at around 110,000 - 730,000 t of microplastic pollution per year. This means that microplastic particles can reach humans not only through marine animals, but also through food that comes from agriculture (Nizzetto et al. 2016).
