![]() Their microplastics tally was astronomical. (They are not disclosing the identity of the facility’s operator, who cooperated with their project.) This plant was actually in the process of installing filters that could snag particles larger than 50 microns (a micron is a millionth of a meter), so the team was able to calculate the microplastic concentrations in raw versus filtered discharge water-basically a before-and-after snapshot of how effective filtration is. ![]() ![]() Along the way, the plastic is washed several times, sloughing off microplastic particles-fragments smaller than 5 millimeters-into the plant’s wastewater.īecause there were multiple washes, the researchers could sample the water at four separate points along the production line. This pilot study focused on a single new facility where plastics are sorted, shredded, and melted down into pellets. ![]() Now, an alarming new study has found that even when plastic makes it to a recycling center, it can still end up splintering into smaller bits that contaminate the air and water. Most used plastic is landfilled, incinerated, or winds up drifting around the environment. In the United States, the rate is now 5 percent. Worldwide, only 9 percent of plastic waste actually gets recycled. The plastics industry has long hyped recycling, even though it is well aware that it’s been a failure. ![]()
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