Microplastics (MPs) are plastics with dimensions less than 5 mm that can be easily transported in environmental systems. Due to the threat they pose to the ecosystem and human health, the World Health Organization and the European Commission emphasized that more research should be done on the subject in the declarations they published independently in 2019. Due to their widespread use in our lives, a high amount of MP reaches wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Studies have shown that WWTPs can remove MPs from wastewater at a high rate, but they accumulate them in sewage sludge, another product of the plant. There is very limited information in the literature about the fate of MPs in sewage sludge. Investigating the effects of MPs in sewage sludge on the anaerobic digester is critical for these systems, which are a sustainable stabilization method and produce renewable energy (biogas) in the process.

The project started on August 1st, 2020 and was completed on May 1st, 2023.

Project outputs:

• Şimşek, İ., Sanin, F.D. “Examination of Nylon Microplastics Under Mesophilic and Thermophilic Anaerobic Digestion Process”, 6th EurAsia Waste Management Symposium, 24-26 October 2022, İstanbul, Turkey.
• Şimşek, İ. (2023). FATE AND EFFECT OF POLYAMIDE MICROPLASTICS DURING ANAEROBIC DIGESTION PROCESS OF SLUDGE [M.S. - Master of Science]. Middle East Technical University.