SOURCES OF TO THE : WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS By: Mala C. Hettiarachchi, PhD, PE

Presentation to:

January 2019 SHOUT-OUT

 Thankful for ERG’s support on microplastic research and outreach.

 ERG pledged to provide about $100,000 in-kind support for the NOAA grant application submitted in December 2018 to conduct microplastic characterization and fate and research.

 Appreciate the support provided by the co-author, Matthew J. Germane, PE

 Thankful for Monika Hentze and Mathias Bath, PhD of for letting me use their WWTP information for this presentation.

 Proud of the ERG ownership and employees who are committed to minimize via personal actions.

 We are a small, nimble, very experienced company with more than 25 employees at three offices in Michigan (Detroit, Wixom, Muskegon). PRESENTATION CONTENT

 Outreach - Plastic waste minimization

 Background of Microplastics

 WWTPs as a source of microplastics

 Sustainable WWTP – Example

 Microplastic Removal at WWTPs PLASTIC POLLUTION AT A GLANCE

 Plastic is strong, flexible and durable making it extremely useful.

 Plastic is persistent in the environment. For example, a plastic can last for 450 years in the marine environment, slowly fragmenting into microplastics.

 Removal of the microscopic plastic pieces in our oceans is an impossible task. Remnants of a bird that died with the plastic in its gut.  Studies show that at least 8 million tons of plastic waste enter the oceans every year. Source: University of South Carolina

 Approximately 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million birds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually. PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE GREAT LAKES

 Rochester Institute of Technology estimated that nearly 22 million pounds of enter the Great Lakes every year.

Source: Driedger et. al. (2015) OUR CONTRIBUTION TO PLASTIC POLLUTION

 Americans represent 5% of the world’s population and generate 30% of the world’s .

 In a lifetime the average American will personally throw away 600 times his/her adult bodyweight of trash – mostly plastic waste.

 Americans use approximately 2,500,000 plastic every hour and only less than 15% are recycled.

 In the USA, 500 million plastic straws are used every day.

 How we can help? Stop using more plastic and spread the word. OUTREACH –PLASTIC WASTE MINIMIZATION PREVENTION OF MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION

Source control is one of the best solutions to this global problem. This can be achieved by:

 Regulations

 Outreach – via raising public awareness on plastic pollution

 Promoting behavioral changes

 Source control using technology

 New recycling methods

 Innovative uses of plastic waste CURRENT REGULATIONS: MACRO-PLASTICS  Rwanda: Banned single-use plastic bags in 2008 and has a zero tolerance policy toward plastic bags.

: The European Parliament voted for a complete ban on a range of single-use plastics across the union in October 2018. The ban will go into effect across Europe by 2021.

: As of August 2017, anyone using, producing, or selling a faces up to four years in jail, or a $38,000 fine.

: Banned the production, import, sale, and distribution of all plastic bags in July, 2016 (Prior to the ban, Morocco was the second largest plastic bag consumer in the world after the USA)

: On December 31st, 2017, China banned the plastic waste that was imported from industrial countries like the USA for recycling / disposal. This ban might leave 111 million metric tons of plastic trash with nowhere to go. China has imported about 45% of the world plastic waste since 1992 for recycling.

 City of Montreal: Banned single-use plastic bags in 2018; Seattle: Banned plastic straws and single-use plastic utensils in July 2018; New Delhi (a city of 20 million): Banned all forms of single-use plastic in 2017; : Banned full-service restaurants from providing plastic straws unless requested in 2019.

 Australia: Banned free, lightweight plastic bags in 2018. SOLUTIONS How many times can plastic be recycled? Reduce, reuse, and recycle to Most Recyclable Plastics: 1-2 times minimize plastic pollution The size of the chain gets reduced when recycled due to heat and mechanical stress. • Segregation is essential for recycling Plastic is recycled to make fibers (e.g., for ). to be effective. Contaminated waste Most of the time, plastic products created with streams will end up in or our recycled plastics cannot be recycled. oceans.

• Remember, recycling comes after HDPE: Maybe recycled 4-7 times due to their long prevention, minimization and reuse in carbon chain. the hierarchy. Glass and Metal including aluminum: Unlimited number of times or infinite

Paper: 5-7 times. With each recycling process, the fibers become shorter, coarser and stiffer. Final uses are egg cartons or newspapers -- biodegradable. #4: LDPE (Low-Density ) - less toxic than other plastics; reusable; not easy to TYPES OF PLASTIC recycle {e.g. shopping bags}

#5: PP () – recyclable and reusable {e.g. toys, furniture}

#1: PET (Polyethylene Terephthalates) - single #6: PS () – May leach (a use; repeated use may leach ; ) when heated; not easy to recycle recyclable to make fiber {e.g. Water bottles} {e.g. toys, vending cups}

#2: HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) – one of #7: Other – contains BPA; not usually recycled the safest forms of plastic; reusable and {e.g. } recyclable {e.g. shampoo bottles} #7 PLA: compostable plastics #3: PVC () - contains many leachable toxins; not recyclable {e.g. food #7 PC: ‘non-leaching’ but trace amounts of BPA foil} can leach when heated or used for hot liquids THINGS YOU CAN DO

 Say no to straws and plastic water bottles  Use reusable/washable cloth grocery bags  Use cotton produce bags  Buy milk/juice in glass bottles  Buy products stored in glass, metal or paper/cardboard containers  Use stainless steel washing machine lint traps to capture plastic fiber  Minimize, reuse, and recycle  We can help reduce plastic pollution right now with our personal choices and actions BACKGROUND OF MICROPLASTICS MICROPLASTICS: AN EMERGING CONCERN

 Microplastics are pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters.

 PRIMARY microplastics are purposefully manufactured to be of microscopic size.

 SECONDARY microplastics are derived from the fragmentation of macroplastic items.

 Found virtually everywhere: water, , , and air.

 Microplastics with size ≤ 20 μm can penetrate into organs.

 Fate and transport of very small microplastics (e.g., nano particles) is yet to be discovered. CURRENT REGULATIONS: Several counties have banned (or are proposing banning) the sale, manufacture, and import of rinse-off products containing microbeads.

 USA (2015 -Free Waters Act); ; multiple European nations; , UK, New Zealand, Australia, . Note: While the composition of microplastics varied spatially and temporally, it is dominated by fibers, fragments, and flakes, as opposed to beads and pellets. Source: http://www.waterkeeper.ca MICROPLASTICS IN THE

 Microplastic ingestion causes physical harm and reproductive complications in marine / freshwater life

 New research showed that A Damselfish larva that has ingested tiny microplastics are getting plastic particles into mosquitoes. This means contaminating the animals in the air like bats, dragonflies, and crickets and an unlikely food chain SORPTION BEHAVIOR

 Microplastics can act as vectors of additives incorporated during manufacture and toxic sorbed from the surrounding media to biota.

 The sorption behavior of some PFAS to the types of microplastics (polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyvinylchloride) are evident (Wang et.al., 2015).

 The molecular composition and structure of microplastics play important roles in the sorption Photo source: Google processes of toxic pollutants. MICROPLASTICS IN HUMANS

 Microplastics in human stool, in the size range from 50 to 500 µm, have been identified by the Medical University of Vienna and the Austrian Federal Environment Agency in 2018, in all eight participants of their pilot study.

 Microplastics have been detected in and .

 The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in March 2018 that it is launching a review of the potential risks of plastic particles in drinking water.

 The complete impact on human health is yet to be discovered.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS AS A SOURCE OF MICROPLASTICS SOURCES OF MICROPLASTICS

Storm Sewers

Atmospheric Combined Sewer Overflow Deposition AND Runoff Many others

WWTPs

Photo source: Google SOURCES TO THE GREAT LAKES – WASTEWATER EFFLUENT  There are several WWTPs, including Detroit WWTP, one of the largest facilities in the USA with the dry weather capacity exceeding 650 million gallons per day, that discharge wastewater to the Great Lakes.

 Unfortunately, these facilities are not designed to remove small microplastics from the effluent. SOURCES TO THE GREAT LAKES – BIOSOLID LAND APPLICATION

 Land application of sludge or biosolids on agricultural land is a commonly used method.

 Between 110,000 and 730,000 tons of microplastics are transferred every year to agricultural via biosolid land application in Europe and (Norwegian Institute for Water Research).

 A large portion of the microplastics re-enter the aquatic environment via agricultural runoff.

 Effect of microplastics on soil organisms, and their impact on farm productivity and food safety is unknown.

 Note: In addition to microplastics, other micropollutants such as PFAS are presence in biosolids. The regulatory limit for PFOA and PFOS for sewage sludge for land application in Germany is Photo source: Google 0.1 mg/kg of dry sludge. SUSTAINABLE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT - EXAMPLE DRESDEN WWTP

 Anaerobic digestors and waste-to-energy processes are typical in German WWTPs.

 Many European WWTPs employ tertiary wastewater treatment techniques to remove micropollutants providing an indirect opportunity to remove very small microplastics.

 Per the German sewage sludge ordinance which came into effect in October 2017, land application of traditional biosolids is allowed only for WWTPs less than 50,000 p.e. RECOVERY

 Phosphorus recovery: Per Germany’s October 2017 sewage sludge ordinance, WWTPs larger than 50,000 p.e. must recover the phosphorus if the sludge contains more than 2% phosphorus /DS (dry solids).

 Due to the new phosphorous recovery requirement, most German WWTPs will use mono-incinerators (sewage sludge incinerators) to recover phosphorous from ash.

 These new regulations help achieve complete destruction of ASH DEC process: micropollutants including Thermochemical treatment - microplastics in sludge. produces renewable phosphate and separates RENEWABLE ENERGY

Energy mix – Dresden WWTP (wind; solar; CHP {green}; grid {blue})

Approx. 80% of the Dresden WWTP’s energy needs was produced onsite in 2016 MICROPLASTIC REMOVAL AT WWTP REMOVAL ALTERNATIVES

Method 1: Source reduction (Examples: public outreach, simple techniques such as fiber traps at washing machines, regulations, etc.) Method 2: Entrainment of microplastics in sewage sludge during settlement processes and filter out micro and nano particles from the effluent water prior to discharge. Method 3: Treat the biosolids that contain various micropollutants, including microplastics. Method 4: Other new methods (e.g., Microbial degradation of microplastics) SOURCE REDUCTION (PUBLIC OUTREACH)

Most people like to help but they need guidance and knowledge. Example:

 The WWTP in Dresden, Germany has reduced about 90% of undesirable garbage flushed down the toilet since 2015 via a 4P public campaign.

 The campaign was adapted by some WWTPs in Germany, Austria, Poland and Czech Republic. ENTRAINMENT OF MICROPLASTICS IN SLUDGE

 Coagulation/flocculation / precipitation

 Micro Screening (e.g., Drum filters and disc filters)

 Filter openings from 10 µm,

 Can be an alternative to primary settlement tanks especially for small WWTP.

 Can be a primary or tertiary treatment.

Photo source: Google ENTRAINMENT OF MICROPLASTICS IN SLUDGE

Treatment - Bio flocculation helps settle microplastics.

 Rapid Sand Filters – can a tertiary treatment option.

Photo source: Google ENTRAINMENT OF MICROPLASTICS IN SLUDGE

 Dissolved Air Floatation

 Membrane Filtration (tertiary treatment)

Photo source: Google TREATMENT OF BIOSOLIDS

Per the German sewage sludge ordinance which came into effect in October 2017, land application of traditional biosolids is allowed only for WWTPs less than 50,000 p.e. Photo source: Google TREATMENT OF BIOSOLIDS -

Photo source: Google TREATMENT OF BIOSOLIDS - A thermochemical process which converts organic materials into gaseous components.

Photo source: Google TREATMENT OF BIOSOLIDS - PYROLYSIS Thermal decomposition of organic materials at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen.

Photo source: Google TREATMENT OF BIOSOLIDS – ANEROBIC DIGESTION Anaerobic digestion seems to facilitate the breakdown of microplastics

Photo source: Google OTHER OPTIONS

- Some microorganisms can degrade plastic polymers.

 Hybrid silica gels – Recent study successfully utilized silica gel to remove microplastics and pharmaceuticals from water.

 Photocatalytic oxidation. Photo source: Google KNOWLEDGE GAPS Further research is needed to reduce microplastic pollution in marine environments:

 Innovative sampling methods to identify/quantify microplastics (micro and nano particles) in soil/ and water.

 Mechanisms of microplastic fragmentation.

 Identification, characterization and quantification of significant microplastic sources per size, type, and shape.

 Microplastic removal technologies.

 Microplastic mass balance at WWTPs.

 Fate and transport of microplastics in biosolids.

 New recycling methods. CONCLUSIONS

 Microplastic pollution is very real and potentially very damaging.

 We can help reduce plastic pollution right now with our personal choices and actions.

 Source control is one of the best solutions to this global problem.

 Process upgrades at WWTPs can provide removal of emerging pollutants as an indirect benefit.

 Obtaining funding for microplastic work is challenging due to the lack of regulations. Contact: Mala C. Hettiarachchi, PhD, PE [email protected] 248-773-7986

THANK YOU!