Microplastics in the environment: Sources, impacts, degradation strategies and energy recovery options-A rigorous review

Abstract

Microplastics, pervasive in the environment, have emanated as a pressing environmental implication due to their widespread dispersal and potential adverse effects on ecosystems and human health. This comprehensive review succumbs an in-depth scrutiny of microplastics, encompassing their sources, distributions, and environmental impacts. Sources of microplastics encompass a wide array of industrial and household activities, ranging from daily care products to the food industry and common household items. In addition, algae play a key part in the degrading processes that microplastics undergo, with macro- and microalgae being major players in remediation initiatives. To understand the flowing ecological effects, the complex relationships that microplastics have with marine organisms, especially those that are part of the marine food web are examined. Furthermore, cutting-edge process technologies like anaerobic digestion, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), and thermal hydrolysis process (THP) present viable paths for managing microplastics, with a focus on energy recovery via co-digestion procedures. The review additionally presents potential directives for forthcoming research, highlighting the necessity of continuing efforts to maximize cleanup tactics, lessen environmental effects, and protect ecosystems around the world from the increasingly dangerous threat of microplastic pollution. Biodegradation strategies for disintegrating such microplastic were also highlighted and explored at the outset.