Institute of Environmental School of Civil & Environmental

Sciences and Engineering Engineering (SCEE)

(IESE)
TEAM MEMBERS

Herman Nasir Meerub Anjum Muhammad Ashir Nouma Saleha

289398 300408 288553 299808
 BACKGROUND 1 6 SCOPE &
INNOVATION

PROBLEM
STATEMENT 2 7 METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION 3 CONTENTS 8 APPLICATIONS

LITERATURE
REVIEW 4 9 TIMELINE

OBJECTIVES 5 10 REFERENCES

3
BACKGROUND Microplastics have been detected in almost
Microplastics every environment including aquatic,
Plastic particles with size <5mm terrestrial, and atmospheric environment
Primary & Secondary
Different sources are industries, municipal solid
waste, hospitals, factories, and other human
activities

Freshwater ecosystem is a great sink for

microplastics. MPs quantity is largely
underestimated

Drinking water has been suspected as a

potential source of MPs. They were detected in
tap water for the first time in 2018

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BACKGROUND
Tributaries and boating/fishing
area in Rawal Lake had the
highest MP abundance.
Highest discharge of
4.32 million tonnes/year
7 billion pieces/day
plastic waste produced
Within 24 h, about 2.4
Annual plastic consumption billion MPs travel from a
of 5.5 kg/person single water channel into
the River Ravi

The average microplastic High content of MPs in

abundance for water & sullage carrier with mean
sediments was 0.142 concentration of 16,150 ± 80
items/0.1 L & 1.04 items/0.01 MPs/m3and 40,536 ± 202
kg in Rawal Lake MPs/m2

(Umar, 2020); (Irfan et al., 2020); (Hashmi et al., 2022) 5

BACKGROUND
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Effects on Human health
Adverse effects on living organisms by inhibiting their growth, development, and
reproduction

Upward bio-accumulation through the food chain, eventually threatening human

health.

Detection of microplastic fragments in human placenta (Ragusa et al., 2021)

Inflammatory lesions, increasing incidence of neurodegenerative diseases, immune

disorders & cancer

Microplastics contaminated with viruses can be more toxic than normal microplastics.
microplastics can act as a transmitting vector of viruses such as COVID-19
(Abuwatfa et al., 2021)
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PROBLEM STATEMENT

Micro plastics are the emerging persistent

pollutants with raised concerns about its impact on
human health. However, there is limited research on
micro plastic availability and removal in Pakistan.
The traditional processing technologies are not
designed to remove micro plastics particularly.

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MPs REMOVAL METHODS

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MPs REMOVAL METHODS

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WHY MAGNETIC BIOCHAR
Efficiency to
Relatively easy &
adsorb dissolved
cheap to prepare
compounds
Magnetic
biochar
Improved sorption
Easy separation
to adsorb anionic
from solution
pollutants

(Liang et al., 2019) (F. Silva et al., 2020)

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TOBACCO STEM WASTE BIOCHAR-
A POTENTIAL RESOURCE?
Tobacco-an important cash crop of Pakistan
Largest producers-100,000 tonnes/year

Vast amounts of tobacco stem waste are discarded each year!

Slow Pyrolysis
Environmental Pollution prevention/minimization

Problem: stems disposal and utilization.

Solution: Recycling into adsorbent material/biochar

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LITERATURE REVIEW

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LITERATURE REVIEW

13
OBJECTIVES

To prepare a low-cost & environment-

friendly adsorbent for waste
management of Tobacco Industries

To assess the cycle stability &

reusability of magnetized biochar for
microplastics removal

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SCOPE
An effective solution for removal of microplastics

Biochar will be prepared in accordance with conditions required for high adsorption
capacity and yield

Three size ranges of MPs and shapes to be decided as per the previous studies for the
occurrence of microplastics in the Rawal Lake

Reuse & Recycle

All experiments will be lab based with triplicates

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INNOVATION

1 2

16
METHODOLOGY
++ +
+ +
Fe Zn

Procurement of Magnetize raw Production of biochar Characterization

Tobacco raw material with Fe and magnetized tests for Biochar
material & Zn biochar by pyrolysis

++ +
+ + -- -
- -

Tests and Preparation of stock Preparation of control Selection of MPs size

analysis of solutions of MBC that and calculating its ranges, concentrations
samples will adsorb MPs due removal efficiency & characterization
to electrostatic forces 17
 METHODOLOGY
SELECT

Sorting of MPs & Calculation of Selection of the best

Physicochemical
adsorbent from removal range of MPs against
analysis of water
solutions by magnet efficiency removal by MBC

Calculating removal Regeneration & reuse Thermal treatment of

efficiency of reused of magnetic biochar microplastics and
WWW.ORGANIKA.COM/SHOP
biochar for MPs removal adsorbent 18
APPLICATIONS

- -
- -
A potential opportunity for - - An eco-friendly,
low-cost adsorbent
industry-academia
collaborations - -
Potential removal of
other anionic
pollutants along with
MPs

Major blueprints for

Potential Large scale
researchers & engineers
application
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RESEARCH COLLABORATION
PROJECT TIMELINE

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REFERENCES
Jun, Chen, et al.(2021). Adsorption and thermal degradation of microplastics from aqueous solutions by
Mg/Zn modified magnetic biochars. Journal of Hazardous Materials, Volume 419,126486, ISSN 0304-3894

Waad, Dana, et al.(2021). Insights into the removal of microplastics from water using biochar in the era of
COVID-19. A mini review, Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Volume 4,100151,ISSN
2666-0164

Irfan, Tahira, et al.(2020). Plastic driven pollution in Pakistan: the first evidence of environmental exposure to
microplastic in sediments and water of Rawal Lake. Environmental Science and Pollution Research Volume
27,13, ISSN 15083-15092

Nisha, Nitin,et al.(2021). Eco-friendly magnetic biochar: An effective trap for nano plastics of varying surface
functionality and size in the aqueous environment. Chemical Engineering Journal, Volume 418,129405, ISSN
1385-8947

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REFERENCES
Chen, Hanping, et al.(2016). Physicochemical properties and hygroscopicity of tobacco stem biochar
pyrolyzed at different temperatures. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Volume 8.1,013112.

Irfan, Muhammad, et al.(2020). An unintended challenge of microplastic pollution in the urban surface
water system of Lahore, Pakistan. Environmental science and pollution research Volume 27,14, ISSN
16718-16730.

Ali, Najabat, et al.(2015). The Economic Analysis of Tobacco Industry: A Case Study of Tobacco Production
in Pakistan (January 5, 2015). International Journal of Research (IJR), Volume 2,3.

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Thank you!