Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Environmental Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envres

Microplastic contaminants in the aqueous environment, fate, toxicity

consequences, and remediation strategies
Pankaj Bhatt a, b, *, Vinay Mohan Pathak c, d, Ahmad Reza Bagheri e, Muhammad Bilal f, **
a
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control,
Integrative Microbiology Research Centre, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China
b
Guangdong Laboratory for Lingman Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou, 510642, China
c
Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi, South Campus, New Delhi, 110021, India
d
Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukul Kangri (Deemed to University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, 249404, India
e
Chemistry Department, Yasouj University, Yasouj, 75918-74831, Iran
f
School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian, 223003, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Microplastic is a fragmented plastic part that emerges as a potential marine and terrestrial contaminant. The
Microplastic pollution microplastic wastes in marine and soil environments cause severe problems in living systems. Microplastic wastes
Microorganism have been linked to various health problems, including reproductive harm and obesity, plus issues such as organ
Toxicity
problems and developmental delays in children. Recycling plastic/microplastics from the environment is very
Environments
low, so remediating these polymers after their utilization is of paramount concern. The microplastic causes se­
Bioplastic
Circular economy vere toxic effects and contaminates the environment. Microplastic affects marine life, microorganism in soil, soil
enzymes, plants system, and physicochemical properties. Ecotoxicology of the microplastic raised many ques­
tions about its use and development from the environment. Various physicochemical and microbial technologies
have been developed for their remediation from the environment. The microplastic effects are linked with its
concentration, size, and shape in contaminated environments. Microplastic is able to sorb the inorganic and
organic contaminants and affect their fate into the contaminated sites. Microbial technology is considered safer
for the remediation of the microplastics via its unique metabolic machinery. Bioplastic is regarded as safer and
eco-friendly as compared to plastics. The review article explored an in-depth understanding of the microplastic,
its fate, toxicity to the environment, and robust remediation strategies.

1. Introduction 2018). It is estimated that plastics contribute approximately 80 % of

The widespread application of different plastic contaminants and
pollutants (Cunha et al., 2020; Kausar et al., 2020; Rashid et al., 2021;
Sher et al., 2021) in the environment is a global concern. Their physical
and chemical properties, such as durability and resistance, have now
become a serious problem and triggering adverse environmental effects
(Hartmann et al., 2019; Montoto-Martínez et al., 2020). Different nat­
ural systems like water, wastewater, soil, air, and atmosphere face the
plastics problem that creates a threat to and terrestrial and marine
ecosystems. The area most affected by plastic pollution is the marine
environment, and plastic debris impacts marine biota and ecosystem at
different levels (Hartmann et al., 2019; Seeley et al., 2020; Thiel et al.,
total sea litter (Montoto-Martínez et al., 2020). Plastic particles appear
as food and enter an animal body like fishes, planktons, and mammals.
Their accumulation causes intestinal blockage and disturbing the
digestive system of a wide range of aquatic organisms (Thiel et al.,
2018). As a result of technology development over the past decade, there
is progressive information on plastic contamination and its problems.
Reports of plastic debris accumulating in the oceans have been
increasing steadily in recent years (Hartmann et al., 2019). Plastics
floating on the ocean surface are buoyant plastic, while high-density
plastics such as microplastics sink beneath the ocean floor.
Recent reports suggest that municipal waste contains various plas­
tics, and 50 % of the plastics are high density, it will easily sink to the sea

* Corresponding author. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial
Signals and Disease Control, Integrative Microbiology Research Centre, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China.
** Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: pankajbhatt.bhatt472@gmail.com (P. Bhatt), bilaluaf@hotmail.com (M. Bilal).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.111762
Received 6 March 2021; Received in revised form 10 June 2021; Accepted 22 July 2021
Available online 24 July 2021
0013-9351/© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
P. Bhatt et al.
Fig. 1. Chemical structure of the commonly used plastic polymers.
floor (Bui et al., 2020). The oceans are polluted by various sizes of
plastics ranging from large to very small pieces (deciplastics (1–10 dm),
centiplastics (1–10 cm), milliplastics (1–10 mm), microplastics (1–1000
μm) and also plastic in nanosize as nano-plastics (1–1000 nm)) (Astner
et al., 2020; Hartmann et al., 2019). Small plastic pieces, fibers, and
granules as microplastics are prominent ocean plastic debris forms. This
includes synthetic particles, microbeads used in cosmetics, drug de­
livery, medicine, and other applications. Plastics are usually made up of
a complex mixture of chemical additives, residual monomers, and syn­
thetic polymers (Galloway et al., 2017). Many countries like China,
India, the USA and the United Kingdom are worried about plastics. At
the European level, programs were conducted for evaluation, i.e., in
Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), Technical Subgroup on
Marine Litter (TSG ML). They recommended that more data and further
studies are needed to better evaluate microliter abundance and distri­
bution in seawater (Montoto-Martínez et al., 2020). The European
Commission has primarily considered microliters of particle size <5 mm
to develop standard criteria for monitoring and evaluating the envi­
ronmental condition of seawater (Montoto-Martínez et al., 2020).
Microplastics and nano-plastics are of great concern due to their
surface morphology, particle size, abundance, and hydrophobic nature,
which helps to adsorbed and transport varieties of contaminants (plas­
ticizers, pesticides, harmful agents) to the organisms, and ultimately,
they enter into the digestion system (Astner et al., 2020; Kedzierski
et al., 2019). The incidence of nano-plastic increases gradually in
various systems and locations. The size of these plastics played a
signature role in their distribution worldwide. The size of nano-plastics
is smaller than that of regular clay particles. They enter the food chain
through the root system of plants by adsorption and transfer to animals
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Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762
and are later comes into organs, blood, and even able to cross placental
barriers (Astner et al., 2020). They adversely affect a wide range of or­
ganisms, including large fishes, microorganisms, and other marine biota
(Danso et al., 2019). Many plastic additives act as endocrine inhibitors
and can alter hormone signalling that affects metabolic and reproduc­
tive processes (Galloway et al., 2017).
Microplastics are the most abundant form of plastic debris and serve
as a growing aquatic contaminant. Their biological impact on the marine
environment has not been well studied (Seeley et al., 2020). As its
ubiquitous nature makes it feasible for their universal application in
modern lifestyles, and global manufacturing figures of plastics increase
to 300 million tons annually (Paço et al., 2017). In a study, it was esti­
mated that 400 million metric tons of plastic were produced in 2015, of
which 300 million metric tons of plastic were generated as plastic waste.
Due to a lack of proper disposal practices, 79 % of plastic waste was
released into the environment (Astner et al., 2020). The user plastics are
mostly “single-use” items, and for this reason, significant parts of these
plastic items end up in the ocean or are disposed of in landfills within the
year of their manufacture (Andrady, 2011; Hartmann et al., 2019).
Compared to its production, only 50 % of the plastics are directly dis­
carded in the environment after a single use without proper disposal
(Galloway et al., 2017). It is estimated that 10 % of the total plastic
waste per year eventually reaches the marine environment (Mon­
toto-Martínez et al., 2020).
Plastic material floats freely in aquatic environments and carries
many things from one place to another. Now, it serves as a carrier for
changing the habitat of the species that is growing on its surface, and
these species are introduced into new environments that they previously
did not inhabit (Kedzierski et al., 2019; Thiel et al., 2018). The
P. Bhatt et al.
initiatives have been taken to control plastic pollution in open seawater
so that microplastics are considered hazardous, but due to a lack of
knowledge and awareness of its harmful ecological effects, huge
amounts of plastic wastes are released into the oceans (Galloway et al.,
2017). The reports showed that large-scale of plastics entered the ocean.
In 2014, 7000–35,000 tons of floating plastic material were found in the
open sea, and another study in the same year reported that 5 trillion
pieces of plastic debris (250,000 tons) were estimated in the sea (Cózar
et al., 2014; Eriksen et al., 2014).
The floating nature of microliters plays a vital role in marine debris
movement (Montoto-Martínez et al., 2020). The last four decades are the
major contributor to plastic accumulation in the marine environment.
Wind ocean gears are helping them increase their concentration in the
center region of the oceans (Xu et al., 2020). Five oceans gyres were
most polluted with microplastics, and of these, the Mediterranean Sea,
Arctic, and China Sea were found to be highly contaminated and
selected for sample collection. During the 2014 expedition, thousands of
microplastic fragments were collected from the surface of the Mediter­
ranean basin (Kedzierski et al., 2019) (Fig. 1). Environmental conditions
are also playing an important role in the formation of secondary
microplastics that is produced by the action of biodegradation and
photooxidation of fragmented plastic. The fission process is not well
defined, it depends on the circumstances, sometimes the breakdown of
1 mm piece to 1 nm piece takes 300 years in seawater (Galloway et al.,
2017). Microplastic contamination has been reported at many unex­
pected locations instead of open seawater, a recent study showing their
presence in the air, ice, rivers, and deep sediment (Montoto-Martínez
et al., 2020).
Plastics in agricultural practices as plastic mulch films is another
major source of microplastics and nano-plastic pollution in soil systems.
Polyethylene (PE) is largely used as plastic mulch in agriculture
methods. Instead of plastics’ benefits, it damages soil health, plastics
broken into small pieces or particles and residues on soil for a long time
without degradation. To overcome the problems of non-degradable
plastics in agriculture, new biodegradable plastic mulches have been
introduced, and these plastic mulches are compatible with biodegra­
dation. These biodegradable plastic mulches are made by polymers such
as polylactic acid, poly (butylene-adipate-co-terephthalate), cellulose,
poly (butylene succinate), polyhydroxyclonate, and poly (butylene
sucrose-co-adipate). Such polymers take time, and only 90 % of
biodegradation is not completely degraded in soil conditions.
Microplastic and nano-plastic problems arise through the biode­
gradable plastic mulch in agricultural fields and affect soil fertility
(Astner et al., 2020). A sampling of microplastics typically has some
analysis requirements, such as variable-sized net, mesh, and aperture.
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) recommends tools for
microplastic studies in surface waters, but researchers face some prob­
lems with these techniques, such as large volume calculations and mesh
size limitations. The sampling from sub-surface waters uses alternative
approaches like a volume-reduced bucket, pump sampling, bulk water
sampling, and Niskin bottle sampling. A Niskin bottle is a plastic cyl­
inder with stoppers at each end to completely seal the bottle. This device
is used to take water samples at the desired depth without the danger of
mixing with water from other depths. Recent reports state that the use of
pump-underway ship water to collect microplastic samples is a highly
used technique (Montoto-Martínez et al., 2020). Monitoring and col­
lecting broad-scale microplastics from open seawater is challenging for
researchers (Andrady, 2011). However, the analysis approach of
microplastics and nano-plastics is not well developed, and the small size
and a large number of distributions limit the analytical approach for
their detection (Kedzierski et al., 2019).
Astner et al. exploited the two analytical approaches, such as small-
angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra-small-angle neutron scat­
tering (USANS), as a potential tool for detection and measure nano-
plastic in soil. SANS is an experimental technique that uses elastic
neutron scattering at small scattering angles to investigate the structure
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Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762
of various substances at a mesoscopic scale of about 1–100 nm. Small-
angle neutron scattering is in many respects very similar to small-
angle X-ray scattering (SAXS); both techniques are jointly referred to
as small-angle scattering (SAS). Advantages of SANS over SAXS are its
sensitivity to light elements, the possibility of isotope labelling, and the
strong scattering by magnetic moments. While USANS is a powerful new
tool to quantitatively characterize materials’ morphology on length
scales from 0.1 to 50 μm. The technique has already been used on a wide
range of materials, from hydrogels to geologic specimens. They experi­
mented with the detection of a wide range of nano-plastics smaller sized
(50 nm) to larger sized (300–1000 nm) (Astner et al., 2020). Micro­
plastics studies in the open sea require many samples for evaluation of
abundance, distribution, sources, and now statistical tools are used to
solve this problem (Seeley et al., 2020). Kedzierski et al. (2019) used two
criteria: the chemical nature of microplastic and granulometric distri­
butions for microplastic examination, and analysis was done using the
statistical sub-sampling method. They suggested that statistical ap­
proaches are efficient tools for microplastic investigations because they
require a limited number of samples for outcome prediction. It is found
that only 3 % of the microplastics of all collections need to be analysed
for a view of the northwest Mediterranean basin (Kedzierski et al., 2019;
Thiel et al., 2018).
Plastic degradation is a breakdown process that changes the physical
as well as chemical properties of the polymer. Polymer degradation
started with chain length disruption that causes ageing and other factors
such as chemical and thermal (Bhardwaj et al., 2012). Plastic waste
management problems should be solved in an eco-friendly manner by
using microorganisms. The breakdown or disintegration of plastic de­
pends on the chemical constituents that support the microbial growth by
means of nutrient sources for them. Despite the general durability of
plastics, a combination of photo-oxidation by ultraviolet (UV) radiation,
physical abrasion by water currents carrying sand grains, and biological
degradation by organisms renders plastics brittle. This causes the for­
mation of microplastics (MPs, defined as plastics with sizes ranging from
100 nm to 5 mm) and nanoplastics (NPs < 100 nm in size), which are
collectively called secondary microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs).
This classification is based on the European Commission’s definition of
engineered nanoparticles (ENPs). Microorganisms utilize these con­
taminants for their growth and survival by degrading them (Pathak and
Navneet, 2017). Microorganisms are played a significant role in the
breakdown of plastic material. Bacterial as well as fungal species were
reported for plastic degradation.
The microbial plastic degradation using the bacterial approach is
aerobic or anaerobic, while fungal biodegradation strictly under
anaerobic conditions (Chandra and Rustgi, 1998). Microbial minerali­
zation of synthetic polymers serves as a suitable approach compared to
other degradation technique (Schink et al., 1992). The strains belonging
to the Paenibacillus sp., Rhodococcus ruber, Oscillatoria subbrevis, Phor­
midium lucidum, Pseudomonas aestusnigri, Pseudomonas protegens, Cory­
nebacterium sp., Bacillus sp., Streptomyces sp., Aureobasidium pullulans,
Arthrobacter sp., Enterobacter sp., Pseudomonas geniculate, Aspergillus
fumigatus, Bacillus niacin, Stenotrophomonas rhizophila, Agromyces sp.,
Agromyces sp., Azotobacter vinelandii, Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium
pinophilum, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Ralstonia pickettii, Comamonas acid­
ovorans, Brevibacillus borstelensis, Comamonas acidovorans TB-35, Pseu­
domonas chlororaphis, Streptomyces badius, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens,
Arthrobacter paraffineus, Acinetobacter baumannii, Microbacterium para­
oxydans, Nocardia asteroides, Micrococcus luteus, Acremonium Kiliense,
Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Bacillus subtilis MZA-75, Cladosporium
sphaerospermum, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Penicillium chrysogenum,
Pseudomonas chlororaphis are the prominent microbial agents reported
for different type of plastic polymer degradation (Bardají et al., 2019;
Gilan et al., 2004; Santo et al., 2013; Sarmah and Rout, 2018; Sarmah
and Rout, 2018; Bollinger et al., 2020; Hung et al., 2016; Kay et al.,
1993; Adıgüzel and Tunçer, 2017; Almeida et al., 2019; Webb et al.,
2000; Goel et al., 2008; Danso et al., 2018; Danso et al., 2018; Bubpachat
P. Bhatt et al.
Fig. 2. Adverse impacts of microplastic on humans, animals, and organisms.
et al., 2018; Jung et al., 2018; Bian et al., 2019; Y. Wei et al., 2018;
Negoro et al., 2012; Yasuhira et al., 2007; Adaya et al., 2018; Jung et al.,
2018; Panagiotidou et al., 2014; Kasuya et al., 1999; Pathak and Nav­
neet, 2017; Jaiswal et al., 2020). The problem of microplastic waste
increases due to the huge application of plastic polymers in different
sectors. There is an urgent need to develop the technology to degrade
microplastic from marine and terrestrial environments. The advantages,
such as the separation and reusability of photocatalysts with low cost
and energy, antifouling properties, and fine permeate flux, have made
the degradation method an efficient method among conventional
methods. In this review, microplastics, their properties and their effects
on both human and animals were investigated. Due to the importance of
these materials, their different removal approaches were also investi­
gated. We have attempted to compile information about the remediation
strategies for microplastic waste. Microplastic and plastic waste’s
toxicity to the living systems evaluated, and microbial technology have
been critically reviewed. Different aspects of microplastics, their attri­
butes and removal from different media are discussed.
2. Microplastic and toxicity consequences
Microplastics (MPs) are pervasive and can be found everywhere,
from water sources to the soil. The presence of MPs in water sources,
especially drinking water, can generate some harmful diseases. MPs can
accumulate in the human body, damage different tissues, and cause
chronic inflammation (Schirinzi et al., 2017). The adverse effects of MPs
are related to various parameters, like particle size and concentration of
MPs. Small particles can easily excrete from the body, while larger
particles (˃2 μm) retain in the intestinal tract for a longer duration
resulting in adverse effects (Triebskorn et al., 2019). MPs can also enter
the circulation of blood (Wright and Kelly, 2017).
MPs are formed from different monomers, oligomers, and chemical
additives, which can leak and enter the human body and environment,
causing illnesses (Padervand et al., 2020). Chemical additives are
applied during the construction of polymers to improve their perfor­
mance, like stability and applicability. These additives are considered
the main source of pollution to water sources, subsequently producing
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Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762
dangerous complications. Nobre et al. (2015) reported that the raw MPs
could induce more toxicity. They proved that the MPs’ leaching to the
environment is strongly related to the media and environment, where
MPs are accumulated.
Due to high surface area, MPs have a large adsorption capacity and
can absorb different water contamination like heavy metals, dyes and
organic molecules (Setälä et al., 2014). The presence of MPs in the soil
can also generate hazardous effects. Based on Lwanga and co-workers
report (Lwanga et al., 2017), soil pollution with MPs can inhibit earth­
worms’ growth and enhance their mortality rate. Zhu et al. (2018) also
reported that exposure to MPs could change the intestinal flora of Fol­
somia candida. MPs can also act as carriers of different organisms (Li
et al., 2020; Picó and Barceló, 2020). The ubiquity of MPs, which have
adverse effects on aquatic species, ecosystems, and human health, has
given rise to scientific and public concerns (Veerasingam et al., 2020).
These concerns arise since organisms can ingest MPs, which causes MPs
to diffuse to cellular boundaries and accumulate (Hou et al., 2020).
These MPs can then translocate throughout the food chain. MPs are
known to have adverse effects on bacteria, algae, echinoderms, rotifers,
mollusks, and arthropods (Teng et al., 2020). Due to their hydrophobic
surfaces, MPs can adsorb persistent bioaccumulative and toxic com­
pounds (PBT), including persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and
metals. It has been shown that the absorbed contaminants can be
transferred to organisms with MPs (Chen et al., 2020a; Burrows et al.,
2020). There are different factors like crystallinity, size, shape and na­
ture of plastics, which can affect the adsorption of MPs via various
mechanisms (Zhang et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2019).
Different additives in MPs can disrupt the synthesis of endocrine
hormones (Liu et al., 2019; Lee and Kim, 2018). MPs can threaten ma­
rine life due to their presence in aquatic environment (Ziajahromi et al.,
2018). The importance of the pollution of marine life with MPs is due to
the fact that marine life is the center of the food chain, which human
have been used (Zhao et al., 2020). Recent studies confirmed that MPs
can accumulate in different body tissues, like the liver, kidney, and gut
of mice, and can change the metabolism and oxidative stress (Bui et al.,
2020; Yang et al., 2019). Different organisms can mistakenly eat MPs
instead of foods, which can block the eating organs of aquatic organisms.
P. Bhatt et al.
Fig. 3. Different methods for the removal of microplastic.
There is a huge concern about MPs since they can damage the digestive
system (Lv et al., 2019). MPs have low density and can float in the ocean
and inhibit diffusion of sunlight to the deep of water, reducing photo­
synthesis function and affects organism’s life (Ma et al., 2019)) (. Fig. 2
represents the harmful effects of MPs on human, animals, and
organisms.
3. Physicochemical methods for microplastic removal
Due to the hazardous effects of MPs, their removal from the envi­
ronment and water sources is vital. To date, various methods have been
used for the removal of MPs (Fig. 3). Among these methods, coagulation,
sedimentation, sand filtration, and clarification are traditional methods
for removing MPs from drinking water. Generally, traditional methods
are useful for the removal of small MPs.
Fig. 4. (a) Modification of Fe nanoparticles with HDTMS, (b) removal of MPs using hydrophobic magnetic nanoparticles and (c) modification process of Fe
nanoparticles using HDTMS. Reproduced with permission from Grbic et al. (2019). Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.
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3.1. Filtration process
The first step for the separation and removal of MPs is filtration,
reducing their number (Pivokonsky et al., 2011). One of the applied
filters for the removal of MPs is a sand filter. A sand filter can capture
target MPs through interaction with MPs or adhere to them. Different
studies reported that a filtration method is a practical approach for the
removal of MPs. Wang and co-workers applied the sand filtration
method to remove MPs from China (Wang et al., 2020a). According to
the results, the removal percentage of the used sand filtration system
was not very high. Although the sand filtration method is useful for the
removal of MPs, but this method is not the main method for removing
MPs. Another suitable method for removing MPs is a rapid sand filter
(RSF) that uses different media layers for removing MPs. This property
of RSF makes it an excellent candidate for the elimination of MPs. Due to
different layers, like silica sand, the MPs can interact with these layers
and separate from water. Hidayaturrahman and Lee evaluated the
removal of MPs using RSF (Hidayaturrahman and Lee, 2019). Results
proved that the applied system was applicable for removing MPs up to
97 %. The obtained results demonstrated that RSF could be applied as an
ideal system for the removal of MPs.
Granular activated carbon filtration (GAC) is another useful system
for removing MPs, which has been applied in recent years. Based on
Wang and coworkers’ study, GAC removed up to 60 % of MPs (Wang
et al., 2020a). Compared to other methods, GAC has lower efficiency.
The main limitation of GAC is that the mechanism of removal of MPs in
this system is still unknown. Disc-filter (DF) is another valuable method
for the removal of MPs. DF can be in different sizes. Talvitie et al., (2017)
used and reported DF to remove MPs. Based on their results, DF was able
to reduce MPs concentrations. It is expected that DF with a smaller size is
more efficient for the removal of MPs. But, in some cases, DF shows the
opposite results due to membrane fouling since MPs can adhere to
membranes’ surface.
3.2. Coagulation
The coagulation method is based on the application of different
chemical coagulants to remove MPs. The aluminum coagulants include
aluminum sulfate, aluminum chloride and sodium aluminate. The iron
coagulants include ferric sulfate, ferrous sulfate, ferric chloride and
ferric chloride sulfate. Other chemicals used as coagulants include hy­
drated lime and magnesium carbonate. The coagulants’ role in the
coagulation process is destabilized surface charge and then the forma­
tion of flocs with MPs. In the next step, MPs can be removed by settling
P. Bhatt et al. Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762

Fig. 5. The proposed mechanism for removal of MPs. Reproduced with permission (Ye et al., 2020). Copyright © 2020 Elsevier.

Fig. 6. Biodegradable and non-biodegradable plastic/microplastic polymers.

or skimming. W. Skaf and co-workers removed MPs from simulated removal process was also evaluated, and results proved that Cl− had
drinking water via alum coagulation (Skaf et al., 2020). The applied lower effects compare to other reagents.
method was helpful for removing the model plastic sphere (density 1.3 g
cm3, 1–5 μm diameter). The MPs were removed using coagulation using
3.3. Dissolved air flotation
alum at different concentrations. In this work, the effect of surfactants
on removal percentage was investigated. In the other work, polystyrene
Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is useful for the exclusion of insoluble
(PS) and polyethylene (PE) MPs were removed using the coagulation
substances. In the DAF method, the air is dissolved in water producing
method by application of PAC and FeCl3 as coagulation agents (Zhou
different bubbles. The formed bubbles can attach to the surface of
et al., 2020). Based on the results, PAC had a higher ability to remove PS
insoluble substances and subsequently be removed by skimming. DAF
and PE compared to FeCl3. SEM analysis showed that agglomeration
can be able to remove MPs with high efficiency. Some studies have
adsorption occurred in the PS system. The mechanism of interaction of
demonstrated that different parameters can affect the applicability and
MPs with PS was also followed by FT-IR analysis. The effect of the pH of
performance of the DAF method. Therefore, the control of these pa­
media on the removal percentage of MPs was investigated. The result
rameters can improve the performance and accurate analysis of MPs.
confirmed that MPs were efficiently removed in alkaline media than in
This drawback of the DAF method can be an ideal subject for future
acidic media. In this study, the effects of Cl− , SO2− 2−
4 and CO3 on the studies. Wang and co-workers investigated the removal of MPs using

6
P. Bhatt et al.
Fig. 7. Microbial degradation of the PET and its utilization in biosynthetic
pathways. Reproduced with permission from Wilkes & Aristilde (2017).
Copyright © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.
Fig. 8. Microbial degradation pathway of PE into the environment. Repro­
duced with permission from Wilkes & Aristilde (2017). Copyright © 2017 The
Society for Applied Microbiology.
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Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762
positive modification by DAF (Wang et al., 2020b). The conventional
DAF was able to remove MPs between 32.0 and 38.0 %. This low
removal percentage proved that when the hydrophilic/hydrophobic
interaction was the dominant mechanism, the adhesion between
microbubbles (MBs) and MPs were not ideal. When the surface modifiers
were applied, the removal percentage of MPs was also increased.
3.4. Grit chamber/primary sedimentation
Grit chamber/primary sedimentation method can remove MPs by
surface skimming and sedimentation. Murphy et al. investigated that the
primary stage had excellent performance for removing MPs up to 70.0 %
(Murphy et al., 2016). The applied fibrous form is effective on the
removal performance of grit chamber/primary sedimentation systems.
The high performance of these methods makes them versatile methods
for eliminating MPs. It is worth mentioning that different factors are
influential in the mechanism of removal of MPs. In this regard, these
factors should be considered and evaluated to improve applied methods’
removal efficiency.
3.5. Other methods for removal of MPs
Electrocoagulation in another applicable approach for the removal of
MPs. Compared to traditional methods, like coagulation, electro­
coagulation does not need to use chemicals or microbes. The Electro­
coagulation method is based on using metal electrodes that produce
coagulants electrically, making the applied method simple, easy, and
versatile (Garcia-Segura et al., 2017; Moussa et al., 2016). Recently, the
removal of MPs using the electrocoagulation approach was investigated
by Perren and co-workers using polyethylene microbeads as a model
(Perren et al., 2018). The applied method removed more than 90 % of
MPs, indicating the method’s good performance. The maximum MPs
removal (99.24 %) was achieved at pH 7.5. By increasing the current
density, the percentage of reduction was decreased, which is related to
the increase in energy consumption. The water conductivity had no
evident impact on the removal efficiency. Electrocoagulation was found
not only useful but also a simple method for the efficient removal of
MPs.
The other useful method for the removal of MPs is the magnetic
procedure. Grbic et al. removed MPs magnetically from the water by
synthesizing hydrophobic Fe nanoparticles, interacting with MPs and
recovering them from the media (Grbic et al., 2019). The applied
method showed efficiency for the removal of polyethylene and poly­
styrene MPs. Since MPs are hydrophobic, to increase the interaction of
Fe nanoparticles with MPs, the surface of Fe NPs was modified. Fig. 4
shows (a) the modification process, (b) the removal of MPs using hy­
drophobic magnetic nanoparticles and (c) the modification process of Fe
nanoparticles using HDTMS. The magnetic removal makes it easy to
separate MPs from the media and improve the proposed method’s
repeatability. Fe nanoparticles were chosen due to their unique prop­
erties of high surface area, high adsorption capacity, easy synthesis, low
cost, and magnetic properties.
In another study, Ye and co-workers investigated the removal of
attached metals to MPs (Ye et al., 2020). Magnetic biochar synthesized
using an easy and fast method had porosity and graphitization (PGMB),
which was used to remove MPs. The activation of persulfate (PS) using
PGMB can remove organic compound up to 60 % of the attached Pb on
the surface of MPs. Based on the different analyses, the covered organic
layer on the surface of MPs can create key sites for metal sorption, whose
decomposition and peeling were the critical steps in the whole process.
Fig. 5 represents the proposed mechanism for the removal of MPs. In
other research, MPs and oil were removed using recyclable magnetic
micro submarines (Sun et al., 2020). SPGs were fabricated using sput­
tering for concurrent removal of MPs and oil from water. The hollow
structure of the prepared micro submarine facilitated two main func­
tions. The applied micro submarine transported oil 37-times larger than
P. Bhatt et al.
Fig. 9. Bacterial degradation pathway of styrene.
its own volume, making it a great device for removing oil and MPs.
Membrane separation is an advantageous method for the removal of
MPs due to high selectivity. Membrane separation is a technology that
selectively separates (fractionates) materials via pores and minute gaps
in the molecular arrangement of a continuous structure. Membrane
separations are classified by pore size and by the separation driving
force. In the membrane method, the particles are separated based on
their size. At first, the particles with smaller sizes are passed from the
membrane pores following the larger particles. The membrane process
can distinguish different particles from each other. Li and co-workers
developed dynamic membranes (DMs) with meshes of 90 μm and
were used to remove MPs from the environment (Li et al., 2018). Dy­
namic membranes are very applicable in removing MPs because they are
cheap and can reduce energy consumption. DMs are very useful for the
removal of non-degradable particles having a low density. In the novel
work, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were used to remove MPs
(Chen et al., 2020b). Different MOFs-based foam materials were con­
structed and used for the removal of MPs. The synthesized MOFs had
amazing properties. These exclusive properties make MOFs as versatile
and novel materials for removing MPs. Among different synthesized
MOFs, UiO-66-OH@MF-3 had a higher performance for removing MPs
up to 95.5 %. Chitin and graphene oxide sponges were fabricated and
used to remove MPs in a pH range of 6–8 (Zamani et al., 2020). The
applied sorbent could remove different MPs with a high percentage in
the range of 72.4–89.8 %. The kinetic studies confirmed that different
interactions, like electrostatic interactions, were responsible for the
8
Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762
adsorption of MPs. Langmuir isotherm was more suitable than other
models. The maximum adsorption capacities of MPs were achieved to be
in the range of 5.0–9. MPs were removed from secondary wastewater
treatment plant (Rajala et al., 2020). The maximum removal percentage
of 99.4 % was obtained when ferric chloride and poly aluminum chlo­
ride were used. Degradation of MPs is a green and sustainable way for
removing these pollutants from the environment. To this end, poly­
propylene MPs were degraded under visible light in a continuous water
flow system (Uheida et al., 2020). Novel glass fiber substrates were
applied. ZnO nanorods were coated on glass fiber inserts and used for
the degradation of target MPs.
4. Microbial degradation of the microplastic/plastic polymers
Microorganisms degrade the various hazardous material from the
environment (Bhatt et al., 2019; Pathak and Navneet, 2017). The
microplastic polymers are also reported to be hydrolyzable in the pres­
ence of microbial strains. The indigenous microbial strains are able to
produce the enzymes that acted on the chemical structure of the
microplastic/plastic polymer. Recent pioneering work in these fields by
various researchers explained how many fractions of plastic waste could
be degraded by microorganisms (Danso et al., 2019). The main synthetic
microplastic polymers that are existing in our economy are polyethylene
terephthalate (PET), polyurethane (PU), polyethylene (PE), poly­
propylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyamide (PA), and polyvinyl­
chloride (PVC). It is imperative to know about the microbial enzymes’
P. Bhatt et al.
Fig. 10. Degradation of poly (cis 1,4-isoprene) using Streptomyces coelicolor 1A.
catalytic potential in these polymers’ degradation via their active cata­
lytic sites (Fig. 6). The catalytic sites of the microbial enzymes contain
few of the amino acids that play an important role in degradation of
MPs.
Both the fungi and bacterial strains degrade the PET polymers. It was
noticed that microbial strains partially degraded the PET from oligo­
meric form to monomer (Lebreton et al., 2018). The enzyme PET hy­
drolases are responsible for its degradation. The PET hydrolase catalytic
rate is lower. So, PET degradation is only possible via a few bacterial
strains. Almost all bacterial strains degrading the PET belong to the
gram-positive phyla actinobacteria (Herrero Acero et al., 2011). The
genera Thermobifida and Thermomonospora were reported for PET
degradation (Danso et al., 2019; Kawai et al., 2014; Ru et al., 2020). PET
degrading enzymes are categorized as PET hydrolase, MHETase, and
tannase. These enzymes are a type of serine hydrolases viz., cutinases,
carboxylesterases, and lipases. The main feature of these enzymes is a
catalytic triad, which plays a vital role in PET degradation (Bhatt et al.,
2020; Ollis et al., 1992; R. Wei et al., 2014). The structural analysis
suggested these enzymes contain α/β folds and disulfide bonds. The
disulfide bonds provide thermal stability to these enzymes during PET
catalysis investigated into the Ideonella sakaiensis 206-F6. This bacte­
rium belongs to Burkholderiales able to use PET as a sole source of carbon
for its growth (Yoshida et al., 2016). Another enzymes reported for the
intermediate compound mono (2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalic acid
(MHET) degradation showed similarity with tannases. The bacterial cell
is able to uptake MHET and hydrolyze using the enzyme MHETase. The
enzymes of the Thermobifida, Sacchromonospora, and Thermomonospora
can degrade the PET. The substrate-binding ability of these enzymes
9
Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762
have been improved by previous researcher’s time to time because some
of the PET hydrolases are antibacterial in nature (Austin et al., 2018;
Carniel et al., 2017; R. Wei et al., 2016).
Fungal phyla of Fusarium and Humicola investigated for the PET
degrading cutinases. The Candida antarctica lipase CalB is inhibited by
the bis-(hydroxyethyl) (BHET) and MHET (Carniel et al., 2017). The
bioinformatic-based work explored the importance of PET hydrolases in
degradation (Danso et al., 2018). A metagenomic based study identified
more than 800 PET hydrolases in Archaea and bacterial strains in the
terrestrial and marine environments. The cutinase has been character­
ized for the polyester degradation from the Pseudomonas pelagia. The
enzymes PpCutA and PpelaLip further investigated and confirmed for
degradation of polyoxyethylene terephthalate (Haernvall et al., 2017).
P. pertucinogena also found useful for the remediation of the polyesters
(Bollinger et al., 2020).
Metagenome-based esterases viz., MGS0156 and GEN0105 can hy­
drolyze the polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, and bis(benzoyloxyethyl)-
terephthalate. The 3D structure of the MGS0156 represented the
modified α/β hydrolase fold with a hydrophobic active site and a lid
domain (Hajighasemi et al., 2018). The MGS0156 showed 70 % close
similarity with the enzymes of Desulfovibrio fructosivorans (Danso et al.,
2019). The main enzymes discovered for the PET degradation from the
microbial strains are TfH (Thermobifida fusca) (R. J. Müller et al., 2005),
HiC (Humicola insolens), PmC, PsC (Pseudomonad mendocina, Fusarium
solani) (Ronkvist et al., 2009), LC-cutinase (from compost metagenome)
(Sulaiman et al., 2012), Cut190 (Saccharomonospora viridis) (Kawai
et al., 2014), Tfcut2 (Thermobifida fusca) (R. Wei et al., 2019) and
lsPETase (Ideonella sakaiensis) (Ru et al., 2020; R. Wei et al., 2019).
P. Bhatt et al.
Fig. 11. Microbial degradation of polyvinyl alcohol using enzymatic catalysis
of dehydrogenase, oxidase, hydrolase, and aldolase. Reproduced with permis­
sion from Wilkes and Aristilde (2017). Copyright © 2017 The Society for Applied
Microbiology.
Based on the degradation intermediates PET degradation pathway is
proposed by researchers (Fig. 7). Overall, it was suggested that PET
degrading hydrolases represent the best-explored enzymes for the
catalysis of the PET polymers. These enzymes can degrade the PET in
natural microplastic contaminated sites or wherever plastic polymers
existed. More screening of the potential strains secreting the PET
degrading enzymes could help make their efficient removal worldwide.
The PU plastic derived from the condensation polyols and poly­
isocyanates is linked via the urethane bonds.
Initially, fungi were identified for polyurethane degradation in 1968
(Darby and Kaplan, 1968). After that, many of the fungi have been re­
ported for the degradation of polyurethane (Ru et al., 2020). In addition
to fungi, bacterial strains are also found effective for the bioremediation
of polyurethane. The fungal strains belonging to the genera Curvularia
(Crabbe et al., 1994), Aspergillus (Khan et al., 2017), Chaetomium (Darby
and Kaplan, 1968), Geomyces (Cosgrove et al., 2007), Alternaria (Mat­
sumiya et al., 2010), Pestalotiopsis (Russell et al., 2011), Cladosporium
(Álvarez-Barragán et al., 2016) and Penicillium (Magnin et al., 2019)
have been investigated for their PU degradation potential. Whereas the
bacterial strains of the genera Corynebacterium (Kay et al., 1991), Pseu­
domonas, Comamonas (Nakajima-Kambe et al., 1995), Bacillus (Blake
et al., 1998; Nair & Kumar, 2007), Acinetobacter (Howard et al., 2012),
Alicycliphilus (Oceguera-Cervantes et al., 2007), Staphylococcus (Jansen
et al., 1991) found effective for PU degradation. The microbial enzymes
viz., esterase, lipase, pulA, pueA, pueB, and LC-cutinase, esterase E3573,
were investigated for the degradation of the PU (Ru et al., 2020). The
bacterial and fungal strains were also reported for their PE degradation
potential (Fig. 8).
Previously, the microbes of the genera Rhodococcus (Gilan et al.,
2004), Bacillus (Sudhakar et al., 2008), Arthrobacter, Pseudomonas
(Balasubramanian et al., 2010), Enterobacter (X. Q. Yang et al., 2014),
Serratia (Azeko et al., 2015), Achromobacter (Kowalczyk et al., 2016),
Zalerion (Paço et al., 2017), Phormidium (Sarmah and Rout, 2018),
Oscillatoria, Alcanivorax (Delacuvellerie et al., 2019) reported for the
degradation of PE. The enzymes/genes of microbial origin viz.,
10
Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762
manganese peroxidase, soybean peroxidase, laccase, and alkB gene re­
ported the catalysis of the PE (Ru et al., 2020). There are no reports for
the biochemical and sequence-based study about PE degrading enzymes.
Polyamide is also an interesting polymer linked via the amide bonds.
The most popular forms of synthetic polyamides are nylon and Kevlar.
Microbial strains are found for their possible role in the degradation of
these polymers (Danso et al., 2019). These polymers act as the sole
source of carbon and nitrogen for bacterial strains. The bacterium
Arthrobacter sp. KI72 reported the first time responsible for the degra­
dation of polyamides (Takehara et al., 2017; Tosa and Chibata, 1965).
Oligomeric nylon degraded via hydrolases and aminotransferases. The
genes for the degradation of nylon found on the plasmid (pOAD2) of the
strain KI72 (Danso et al., 2018, 2019). Other bacterial strains of Bacillus
cereus, Brevundimonas vesicularis, B. sphaericus, P. aeruginosa, and Vibrio
furnisii were found effective for nylon degradation (Prijambada et al.,
1995; Sudhakar et al., 2007; Tosa and Chibata, 1965).
Polystyrene (PS) is a styrene polymer. The carbon isotope-based
study in soil and activated sewage sludge suggested that less than
0.01 % PS degraded after 8 weeks (Ru et al., 2020). The degradation rate
of PS was observed very lesser in initial experiments (Sielicki et al.,
1978). In addition to the mixed flora, axenic cultures isolated and
characterized in the laboratory for the PS’s degradation. The microbial
strains of the genera Xanthomonas (Oikawa1, 2003), Sphingobacterium,
Bacillus, Rhodococcus (Mor and Sivan, 2008), Microbacterium (Atiq et al.,
2010), Paenibacillus, Pseudomonas (Atiq et al., 2010), Rhizopus, Asper­
gillus, Phanerochaete (Ru et al., 2020), Exiguobacterium (Y. Yang et al.,
2015) reported for the PS degradation (Fig. 9). The enzyme hydroqui­
none peroxidase from the strain Azotobacter beijerinckii HM121 found
effective for PS degradation (Nakamiya et al., 1997).
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylene (PP) are made up of the
repeating unit of the chloroethyl and propane 1–2, diyl monomers,
respectively (Danso et al., 2019). Very few studies investigated the
degradation of PVC and PP due to the mixed microbial cultures (Cacciari
et al., 1993; Iakovlev et al., 2017). Both bacterial and fungal strains are
effective for the degradation of the PVC and PP. In addition to the above
investigations, the invertebrates’ microbiomes were also found effective
for microplastic/plastic polymer degradation (Danso et al., 2018; Ru
et al., 2020). Based on the previous reports, the degradation pathways
have been illustrated well for the degradation of poly (cis 1,4-isoprene)
and polyvinyl chloride (Bode et al., 2000) (Figs. 10 and 11). Table 1
represented the microbial strains and enzymes responsible for destroy­
ing the plastic/microplastic polymers in various contaminated
environments.
5. Bioplastic an alternative to plastic/microplastic
Most plastic products only can be used once without recycling
methods. The packaging sector consumed approximately 40 % of the
used plastics. In Europe (year, 2016) polyethylene, polyethylene tere­
phthalate, polypropylene, and polystyrene were used about 60 % of the
total plastic and considered non-degradative plastic (Narancic &
O’Connor, 2019). To date, the potential of recycling plastic waste is
unexploited largely, with few exceptions with slow rate recycling. The
reason is the high price of recycling and low application commercially
(Narancic & O’Connor, 2017; Xu et al., 2020). Single-use plastic and
MPs cause severe problem in marine environments. The coral reefs,
marine mammals, and terrestrial life widely affected by the enhanced
microplastic waste day by day (Andrady, 2011; Lamb et al., 2018; L. C.
M. Lebreton et al., 2017).
Some of the researchers found that landfilling is the end of plastic
waste. The chemicals released from plastic waste affect several animal
life’s in the environment. So, to overcome the toxic effects of the MPs
and other plastic wastes European Union (EU) and the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) preferred the reduction of
plastic waste whereas the reduction by other methods such as recycling,
reuse, disposal, and energy recovery considered least (Jabeen et al.,
P. Bhatt et al. Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762

Table 1
Microbial degradation of plastic polymers.
Microorganism Enzyme Type of Degradation analysis Reference
Plastics

Paenibacillus sp. Alkane-monooxygenase PE Weight loss, FTIR, SEM Bardají et al. (2019)
Rhodococcus ruber Lacasse PE Weight loss, SEM, FTIR Gilan et al. (2004)
Rhodococcus ruber Laccase PE ATR-FTIR, DSC, GPC, Weight loss Santo et al. (2013)
Oscillatoria subbrevis laccase and manganese peroxidase PE FTIR, NMR, SEM, Weight loss, CHN, TGA, DSC, OP, Sarmah & Rout (2018)
Tensilometer
Phormidium lucidum laccase and manganese peroxidase PE FTIR, NMR, SEM, Weight loss, CHN, TGA, DSC, OP, Sarmah & Rout (2018)
Tensilometer
Pseudomonas aestusnigri Polyester-hydrolase PU Clear zone Bollinger et al. (2020)
Pseudomonas protegens Lipase PU Clear zone, Spectrophotometry, NMR, HPLC Hung et al. (2016)
Corynebacterium sp. Esterase PU Tensilometer, ATR-FTIR Kay et al. (1993)
Bacillus sp. Cutinase PCL Weight loss, Clear zone Adıgüzel & Tunçer (2017)
Streptomyces sp. Hydrolase PCL Clear zone Almeida et al. (2019)
Aureobasidium pullulans Esterase PVC Blend SEM; Weight loss; Clear zone Webb et al. (2000)
Arthrobacter sp. Esterase PC FTIR, Spectrophotometry Goel et al. (2008)
Enterobacter sp. Esterase PC FTIR, Spectrophotometry Goel et al. (2008)
Oleispira antarctica PET-hydrolase PET Clear zone, HPLC Danso et al. (2018)
Pseudomonas geniculata Protease PLA Weight loss, SEM, GPC Bubpachat et al. (2018)
Aspergillus fumigatus Esterase PLA Clear zone, MS, Weight loss, SEM Jung et al. (2018)
Bacillus niacini PVAase PVA Clear zone Bian et al. (2019)
Stenotrophomonas rhizophila PVA-dehydrogenase PVA Iodometric analysis; Spectrophotometry (Y. Wei et al., 2018)
Agromyces sp. Nylon-hydrolase Nylon MS, TLC Negoro et al. (2012)
Agromyces sp. Nylon-Oligomer-Degrading- Nylon Spectrophotometry Yasuhira et al. (2007)
Enzyme
Azotobacter vinelandii PHB-depolymerase PHB HPLC Adaya et al. (2018)
Aspergillus fumigatus Esterase PHB Clear zone, MS, Weight loss, SEM Jung et al. (2018)
Penicillium pinophilum PHB-depolymerase PHB Spectrophotometry, Weight loss, SEM Panagiotidou et al. (2014)
Pseudomonas stutzeri PHB-depolymerase P3HP Weight loss Kasuya et al. (1999)
Ralstonia pickettii PHB-depolymerase P4HB Weight loss Kasuya et al. (1999)
Comamonas acidovorans PHB-depolymerase P4HB Weight loss Kasuya et al. (1999)
Pseudomonas stutzeri PHB-depolymerase P4HB Weight loss Kasuya et al. (1999)
Comamonas acidovorans PHB-depolymerase P3HP Weight loss Kasuya et al. (1999)
Paracoccus denitrificans 3HV_Dehydrogenase P3HV HPLC Lu et al. (2014)
Oligomers
Ralstonia pickettii PHA depolymerases P (3HB-co- HPLC, NMR, Weight loss Wang et al. (2002)
3HP)
Pseudomonas indica PHA depolymerases P (3HB-co- GC, NMR, FTIR, MS, MALDI-TOF Elbanna et al. (2004)
3MP)
Schlegelella PHA depolymerases P (3HB-co- GC, NMR, FTIR, MS, MALDI-TOF Elbanna et al. (2004)
thermodepolymerans 3MP)
Streptomyces roseolus PHA-depolymerase P3HO Clear zone Gangoiti et al. (2012)
Pseudomonas Polyesterase PBAT MS Wallace et al. (2017)
pseudoalcaligenes
Fusarium solani Cutinase PBAT NMR, Spectrophotometry, QCM-D Zumstein et al. (2017)
Rhizopus oryzae Lipase PBAT NMR, Spectrophotometry, QCM-D Zumstein et al. (2017)
Uncultured bacterium Carboxylesterase PBAT Clear zone, HPLC (C. A. Müller et al., 2017)
Bacillus pumilus PBAT hydrolase PBAT Clear zone, Weight loss, SEM Muroi et al. (2017)
Thermobifida cellulosilytica Cutinase PEF QCM-D, SEM, AFM, HPLC Weinberger et al. (2017)
Stenotrophomonas rhizophila PVA-dehydrogenase PVA Iodometric analysis; Spectrophotometry (Y. Wei et al., 2018)
Bacillus niacini PVAase PVA Clear zone Bian et al. (2019)
Sphingomonas sp. O-PVA-hydrolase O-PVA NA Klomklang et al. (2005)
Pseudomonas sp. Oxidized-PVA-hydrolase O-PVA Spectrophotometry Shimao et al. (2000)
Acidovorax sp. PHA depolymerases P (3HB-co- SEM, FTIR, X-ray, Tensilometer, CO2 Wang et al. (2002)
3HP)
Clostridium botulinum Estarase PBAT HPLC Perz et al. (2016)
Pelosinus fermentans Lipase PBAT Spectrophotometry, MS Biundo et al. (2016)
Clostridium hathewayi Esterase PBAT HPLC, SEM Perz et al. (2016)
Paenibacillus amylolyticus Protease and esterase PBS Clear zone Teeraphatpornchai et al. (2003)
Acidovorax delafieldii PBS depolymerase PBS Clear zone Uchida et al. (2002)
Rhizopus oryzae Lipase PBS QCM-D, Spectrophotometry Zumstein et al. (2016)
Saccharomonospora viridis Cutinase PBS Clear zone Kawai et al. (2014)
Aspergillus sp. PBS-degrading enzyme PBS Clear zone, Spectrophotometry, MS Li et al. (2011)
Aspergillus oryzae Cutinase PBS Clear zone Maeda et al. (2005)
Cryptococcus sp. Cutinase Spectrophotometry Maeda et al. (2005)
Uncultured bacterium PLA-depolymerase PBS Spectrophotometry Mayumi et al. (2008)
Uncultured bacterium PLA-depolymerase PBS Spectrophotometry Mayumi et al. (2008)
Uncultured bacterium PLA-depolymerase PBS Spectrophotometry Mayumi et al. (2008)
Aspergillus fumigatus Esterase PBS Clear zone, MS, Weight loss, SEM Jung et al. (2018)
Pseudozyma antarctica Pseudozyma antarctica GB-4 (0) PBS Clear zone, Spectrophotometry Sameshima-Yamashita et al.
esterase (2019)
Pseudozyma antarctica Cutinase PBS blend SEM, NMR, TOC Shinozaki et al. (2013)
Roseateles depolymerans Esterase PBSTIL Clear zone Shah et al. (2013)
Fusarium solani Cutinase PMCL TOC, NMR Ronkvist et al. (2009)
Saccharomonospora viridis Cutinase Ecoflex Clear zone Kawai et al. (2014)

11
P. Bhatt et al.
Fig. 12. Circular economy for plastic/microplastic in environment.
2015). The interesting alternate option of plastic waste is biodegradable
plastics which opens new life management for plastic waste. Bioplastic is
a plastic material synthesized from renewable biomass such as, vege­
table fate oil, food waste, corn starch, straw, etc. In addition to this,
bioplastic also derived from the used plastic and agricultural wastes
using microorganisms. It was reported that not all bioplastics are
degradable (Jabeen et al., 2015; Narancic & O’Connor, 2019).
Bioplastics are divided into two broad categories, called degradable
and non-degradable plastics (Fig. 12). Bioplastics such as poly­
hydroxyalkanoate, polylactic acid, thermoplastic starch, and cellulose
are biodegradable (Narancic et al., 2020). Microbial strains produced
the enzymes that catalyze the degradation of these polymers. The mi­
crobial enzyme cutinases and lipases degraded the polyethylene tere­
phthalate. The complete mineralization of the polyethylene is not
reported to date. The bioplastics polyhydroxyalkanoates, oil-based
polycaprolactone, and polylactic acid can be mineralized using micro­
bial actions. Plastics such as bio-polyethylene terephthalate,
polyol-polyurethane, and bio-polyethylene are non-degradable. The
oil-based plastics are categorized based on their biodegradation ability.
Polyethylene and polystyrene are non-biodegradable, while poly­
caprolactone and polybutylene adipate terephthalate are degradable in
nature (Jabeen et al., 2015). The biobased synthesis of polyethylene
from sugar cane is a successful attempt in Brazil (Narancic et al., 2020).
However, polyethylene terephthalate is synthesized from the plant
material used to manufacture liquid drink plastic bottles (Cacciari et al.,
1993). Although plastics production is biobased, which contributes to
reducing greenhouse gases, they are non-degradable (Beagan et al.,
2020).
Some researchers working on the biobased, degradable plastics that
can be applied for sustainable development are in progress. In the future,
we need to do more research on the biobased, degradable plastics that
could be the alternative to current plastic, plastic debris and micro­
plastics from the environments (Adaya et al., 2018; Shruti and
Kutralam-Muniasamy, 2019). Bioplastics are made up of biomass; it
reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases. Biodegradation of the bio­
plastic depends on the chemical nature of the polymer. All bioplastics
are not degradable always, some degraded completely or partly (Nar­
ancic et al., 2018, 2020). Polylactic acid is a major bioplastic available in
the market. It is commonly used in the packing of the material (Zumstein
et al., 2016). For its biodegradation, a higher temperature is required.
Various microbial strains can use polylactic acid as substrate and cata­
lyze using their enzymes, whereas it was reported that a major part was
degraded by the non-enzymatic hydrolysis (Kawai, 2010).
The bioplastics are eco-friendly compared to microplastics; however,
12
Environmental Research 200 (2021) 111762
they cannot be the solution to the present plastic waste pollution. Ulti­
mately, we need to think about managing plastic waste (Shruti and
Kutralam-Muniasamy, 2019). The majority of the bioplastic is reported
to degrade using anaerobic digestions (Narancic et al., 2018). The plastic
waste used throughout the world followed the linear economy, whereas
the bioplastics can be used in the circular economy. The circular econ­
omy mainly focuses on reusing plastic waste from every corner of its
application (Danso et al., 2019). A circular economy helps to return
carbon into the environment and is used for sustainability via various
natural methods. The combination of pyrolysis and microbiology
transformed the non-degradable plastic into the biodegradable. The
discovery of more enzymes in plastic polymers separate each of the
monomers. The monomer could then be used further to re-synthesize
and recycle the plastic in a different aspect. Bioplastic production is 1
% of the total plastic production worldwide. So, more attention needs to
pay about the research and production of bioplastic throughout the
world. The global bioplastic market is targeted to reach $6.73 up to 2025
(Adaya et al., 2018). The demand for bioplastic is increasing in the
country, viz, China, India, African countries, and many European
countries emerging with fast economic growth (Narancic et al., 2020).
The starch blends, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and polylactic acids are
considered important polymers for the growth of the biobased plastic
industry. The enhanced development in this sector could increase these
polymers’ share in the near future (Holmes et al., 2008; Narancic et al.,
2020). The overall studies confirm that the use of bioplastic is safer and
more sustainable for the environment. We can replace the daily needs of
plastic in our life with bioplastics and make the environment safer for
everyone.
6. Conclusion and future prospects
Microplastic is an emerging pollutant contaminating both marine
and terrestrial environments. This can create severe toxicity in the living
systems. It releases toxic compounds, which can be transported during
its migration into contaminated environments. Due to the huge appli­
cation of plastic waste in our daily life, we need to reduce its application
and think about its recycling in the environment. The plastic waste used,
and management is important for its recycling and remediation. Physi­
cochemical and microbial methods were found effective in the past
decades to remove plastic, debris, and microplastic. To reduce micro­
plastic, we need to control plastic’s main source, whatever we are using
for different purposes. Bioplastic developed can be used as an alternative
for plastics. Combined remediation ecotechnologies, waste manage­
ment, and circular economy are the main solution to reducing the
P. Bhatt et al.
microplastic and large plastic polymers from the environment. More
research on molecular bioremediation could help explore and apply the
remediation of microplastics from the contaminated environment.
Future research on the impact of different size microplastics as pollutant
and remediation using various newly developed eco-friendly technolo­
gies will help make the policy for its large-scale management in envi­
ronments. Recent high throughput biotechnological tools could also
analyze the combined effect of degradation and remediation of the
microplastics. Due to the importance of microplastics and their impact
on both human and animals, they can be the subject of many researchers
in the near future. Most of the research will focus on new analyses
methods for identifying and characterizing microplastics. Investigating
the new removal methods is another main aspect in evaluating micro­
plastics that can be a hot subject in the future. Other main aspect of
microplastic can be using different emerging materials like covalent
organic frameworks, metal-organic frameworks, molecularly imprinted
polymers, magnetic sorbents and so on for removal of these materials
from the environment.
Credit authors statement
All the authors equally contributed and approve the submission.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
The listed author(s) are thankful to their representative universities
for providing the literature services.
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