Microplastic removal and management strategies for wastewater treatment plants.

Discharging microplastics (MPs) into the environment with treated wastewater is becoming a major concern around the world. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) release MPs into terrestrial and aquatic habitats, mostly from textile, laundry, and cosmetic industries. Despite extensive research on MPs in the environment, their removal, and WWTP management strategies, highlighting their environmental effects, little is known about MPs' fate and behaviour during various treatment processes. MPs interact with treatment technologies differently due to their diverse physical and chemical characteristics, resulting in varying removal efficiency. MPs removed from WWTPs may accumulate in soil and harm terrestrial ecosystems. Few studies have examined the cost, energy use, and trade-offs of large-scale implementation of modern treatment methods for the removal of MPs. To safeguard aquatic and terrestrial habitats from MPs' contamination, focused and efficient management techniques must bridge these knowledge gaps. This review summarizes MP detection, collection, removal and management strategies. A compilation of treatment process studies on MPs' removal efficiency and their destiny and transit paths shows recent improvement. Bioremediation, membrane bioreactor (MBR), electrocoagulation, sol-gel technique, flotation, enhanced filtering, and AOPs are evaluated for MP removal. The fate and behaviour of MPs in WWTPs suggest they may be secondary suppliers of MPs to receiving ecosystems. Innovative MP removal strategies and technologies such as nanoparticles, microorganism-based remediation, and tertiary treatment raise issues. These new WWTP technologies are examined for feasibility, limitations, and implementation issues. Pretreatment modifies MPs size, adsorption potential, and surface morphology to remove MPs from WWTPs. Membrane bioreactors (MBR) can remove MP 99.9% more efficiently than other approaches. MBR systems require membrane cleaning and fouling control, which raises operational and capital costs. To reduce MPs, plastic alternatives and strict controls, including MP waste transformation, should be prioritized. MPs must be controlled through monitoring policy execution and awareness.