Plastic input and dynamics in industrial composting.

Green and biowaste, processed within large facilities into compost, is a key fertilizer for agricultural and horticultural soils. However, due to improper waste disposal of plastic, its residues often remain or even lead to the formation ofmicroplastics (1 µm - 5 mm, MiPs) in the final compost product. To better understand the processes, we first quantified 'macroplastics' (> 20 mm, MaPs) input via biowaste collection into an industrial composting plant, and, then determined MiP concentrations at five stages during the composting process (before and after shredding and screening processes), and in the water used for irrigation.

Microplastic analysis in soils: A comparative assessment.

Microplastic (MiP) contamination poses environmental risks, but harmonizing data from different quantification methods and sample matrices remains challenging. We compared analytical protocols for MiP quantification in soil, consisting of Digital, Fluorescence, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), and Raman Microscopy as well as quantitative Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (Py-GC-MS) and 1-proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H NMR) spectroscopy as detection techniques. Each technique was coupled with a specific extraction procedure and evaluated for three soils with different textures and organic carbon contents, amended with eight types of large MiPs (0.

Global soil microplastic assessment in different land-use systems is largely determined by the method of analysis: A meta-analysis.

Although microplastics (1 μm - 5 mm, MP) are increasingly recognised as a novel entity of pollutants, we still lack a basic understanding of their prevalence in different terrestrial environments. Here, we aimed at performing comparisons of MP concentrations (items kg) in different agro-ecosystems, with specific focus on input pathways and land uses, while accounting for the plethora of method variations available, such as analysed MP sizes, sampling depths, density separation solutions, as well as removal of organic matter. We found that the current global means of MP loads, from 89 studies (553 sites), benchmarks 2900 ± 7600 MP items kg soil, substantially more than the global median of 480 MP items kg.

Plastic Fruit Stickers in Industrial Composting─Surface and Structural Alterations Revealed by Electron Microscopy and Computed Tomography.

Often large quantities of plastics are found in compost, with price look-up stickers being a major but little-explored component in the contamination path. Stickers glued to fruit or vegetable peels usually remain attached to the organic material despite sorting processes in the composting plant. Here, we investigated the effects of industrial composting on the structural alterations of these stickers.