Canadian chemists from the University of Waterloo have created a new technology to purify wastewater from harmful nanoplastics. According to the developers, the method removes the vast majority of plastic pollutants from wastewater. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Separation and Purification Technology (SPT).
Experts used epoxy resin, a waste polymer that cannot be reused or recycled. The garbage was converted into activated carbon using thermal decomposition.
The completed filter media removed 94% of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET plastic nanoparticles, a common type of polyester used in water bottles and fleece fabric, from the water.
“To end the plastic waste crisis and reduce the environmental impact of plastic production, we need to adopt a circular economy approach that takes into account every step of the plastic journey,” said Professor Tizazu Mekonnen, lead author of the study.
The scientists’ next steps will focus on applying the purification process to other types of plastic and testing it on a large scale in municipal wastewater treatment plants, which often contain other pollutants in addition to microplastics.
Previous scientists I learnedwhere micropalstic accumulates in the human body.