Bio-Aging of polyethylene during anaerobic and aerobic digestion

Date

2025-07-01

Author

Dassouki Dit Tahan, Maha
Özdemir, Melek
Sanin, Faika Dilek
İmamoğlu, İpek

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Presence of microplastics (MPs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) require scrutiny from two perspectives: impact of MPs on treatment and on MPs themselves. Accordingly, this study investigates the impact of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) on mesophilic aerobic and anaerobic digestion, with their concurrent characterization to discern MP biodegradation following digestion. HDPE having UV-stabilizer remains unchanged, whereas additive-free LDPE bio-ages, in both cases. On the flip side, HDPE negatively impacts anaerobic (i.e., 26 % reduction in methane) but not aerobic digestion, while LDPE affects neither. The very high LDPE doses used in our study (300 mg PE/g TS) yielding no negative impact on either aerobic or anaerobic digestion is notable. Lastly, bio-aging potential of PE is closely linked with amorphous/crystalline structure and presence/absence of additives. Such factors may affect microbial colonization, resulting in physical/chemical changes on the surface of PE and on digester operation.

Subject Keywords

Biodegradation, Biofilm, HDPE, LDPE, Microplastics, Sludge treatment

URI

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=105000198222&origin=inward
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/114345

Collections

Department of Environmental Engineering, Article