Evaluation of the Presence of Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Development and Verification of Strategies for Their Quantification and Removal in Aqueous Streams

Ana Belén Lozano Avilés, Ginés Morales Méndez () and Francisco del Cerro Velázquez ()
Additional contact information
Ana Belén Lozano Avilés: Engineer Water Department, VECTORIS, 30500 Molina de Segura, Spain
Ginés Morales Méndez: Department of Electromagnetism and Electronics, Faculty of Chemistry, Campus of Espinardo 5, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Francisco del Cerro Velázquez: Department of Electromagnetism and Electronics, Faculty of Chemistry, Campus of Espinardo 5, 30100 Murcia, Spain

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-22

Abstract: Water is an essential resource whose quality is threatened by emerging pollutants, including microplastics (MP), whose persistence, bioaccumulation capacity and ecotoxic potential pose a growing risk to ecosystems and human health. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as one of the main sources of these pollutants, as conventional treatments are insufficient to remove them completely. In response to this problem and with the aim of finding more efficient and sustainable solutions, a study has been carried out at WWTP with a pilot MP capture plant capable of detecting, quantifying and removing these particles from different wastewater sources with high precision and sustainability. This proposal represents a significant advance in the mitigation of invisible pollution, contributing to the protection of the environment and public health, achieving an efficiency of over 80% in the removal of plastic particles. This system not only addresses the challenge of environmental protection but also represents an unavoidable commitment to a healthier, more equitable, and sustainable development model for current and future generations, directly contributing to strategic action to advance the fulfillment of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) promoted by the UN (SDG 3, SDG 6, SDG 12, SDG 14 and SDG 15).

Keywords: microplastics; WWTP; environmental pollution; sustainable removal technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/21/9470/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/21/9470/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:21:p:9470-:d:1779036

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().