The treatment of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) as a possible source of micro- and nano-plastics and bioplastics in agroecosystems: a review

Bandini, Francesca; Taskin, Eren; Bellotti, Gabriele; Vaccari, Filippo; Misci, Chiara; Guerrieri, Maria Chiara; Cocconcelli, Pier Sandro; Puglisi, Edoardo

doi:10.1186/s40538-021-00269-w

Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture

Table 3 Summary of the main studies on MPs, NPs, MBPs, and NBPs in the OFMSW treatment, covering different origin and sources within the whole process

From: The treatment of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) as a possible source of micro- and nano-plastics and bioplastics in agroecosystems: a review

Polymer's type	Source/origin	Amount	Dimension/size	Refs.
Mater-Bi	OFMSW after shredding pre-treatment, anaerobic digester	8.4 ± 0.5 MBPs/10 g	< 2 mm	[171]
PE, Cellophane, PS	OFMSW after shredding pre-treatment, anaerobic digester	5.4 ± 1.7 MPs/10 g	< 2 mm	[171]
PES, PE, PP, PET, Cellulose-based polymer, PVC, PA, PUR, etc.	Quality-controlled, certified biowaste compost sieved through 8 mm meshes	20 MPs/ kg dry weight	1–2 mm, 2–5 mm	[67]
PES, PE, PP, PET, Cellulose-based polymer, PVC, PA, PUR, etc.	Quality-controlled, certified biowaste compost sieved through 15 mm meshes	24 MPs/ kg dry weight	1–2 mm, 2–5 mm	[67]
PES, PE, PP, PET, Cellulose-based polymer, PVC, PA, PUR, etc.	Mature compost from household biowaste digester	70 MPs/ kg dry weight	1–2 mm, 2–5 mm	[67]
PES, PE, PP, PET, Cellulose-based polymer, PVC, PA, PUR, etc.	Mature compost from household biowaste digester	122 MPs/ kg dry weight	1–2 mm, 2–5 mm	[67]
PES, PE, PP, PET, Cellulose-based polymer, PVC, PA, PUR, etc.	Fresh digestate-fertilizer from household biowaste digester	146 MPs/ kg dry weight	1–2 mm, 2–5 mm	[67]
PES, PE, PP, PET, Cellulose-based polymer, PVC, PA, PUR, etc.	Liquid fertilizer for agricultural use from commercial biowaste digester (waste from local markets, food and drink industries)	895 MPs/ kg dry weight	1–2 mm, 2–5 mm	[67]
Heavy plastics	Municipal solid waste composts	1.2% dry matter	5–30 µm	[172]
Light plastics (PE films)	Municipal solid waste composts	0.3% dry matter	5–30 µm	[172]
LDPE film fragments	Sludge from a biogas plant	Not mentioned	1 mm	[174]
Polyester, PP, PE	Compost from rural domestic waste	2533 ± 457 MPs/kg dry weight	1–3 mm	[175]
Polyester, PP, PE	Compost from rural domestic waste	2267 ± 115 MPs/kg dry weight	0.1–0.5 mm	[175]
PE, PP	Compost from municipal organic waste	21 ± 31 MPs/kg	1–2 mm	[176]
PE, PP	Compost from municipal organic waste	1750 ± 930 MPs/kg	30 µm–2 mm	[176]
–	Compost	2.38–1200 mg plastics/kg	-	[79]
–	Sewage sludge	1000–24,000 plastic items/kg	-	[79]
–	Compost	1200 mg/kg	-	[177]
Plastics and fibers	Sieved compost from municipal bio-waste	1.35 ± 0.59 g items/kg	5–25 mm	[178]
Plastics and fibers	Sieved compost from municipal bio-waste	1357.9 ± 596.0 mg/kg	1–5 mm	[178]

Selected studies were those which quantified micro- and nano-plastics and bioplastics in the OFMSW, in the anaerobic digestion, in the composting process and in the final end-products (sewage sludge and composts)

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