EnviroChemie leads new microplastics research project

Rossdorf, Germany: – Advanced environmental engineering and water treatment specialist EnviroChemie GmbH is supporting a groundbreaking collaborative project to investigate the prevalence of plastics microparticles in industrial wastewater.

The joint research EmiStop project began work at the beginning of 2018 under the auspices of EnviroChemie, involving partners from industry and science, including inter 3 GmbH, BS-Partikel GmbH, TU Darmstadt and HS RheinMain.

Developing innovative tools

The project aims to discover the prevalence of microparticles in various types of industrial wastewater of various industrial sectors. It will use innovative detection methods to record plastic emissions in industrial wastewater streams, amassing reliable data on the types of plastic, their concentrations and the number of individual particles per litre.

The project partners also plan to develop sustainable technologies and solutions to prevent industrial emissions of microplastic into the environment by the end of 2020.

The project is part funded by a 1.9m euro grant from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of its Green Economy flagship initiative ‘Plastics in the environment – sources, sinks, solutions’ within the overall framework oprogram ‘Research for Sustainable Development’ (FONA3).

Analysis of microplastic in industrial wastewater

The prevalence of microplastic particles in the environment, and particularly in water streams and the oceans is becoming seen as one of the most urgen ecological challenges of the 21st century.

Industrial wastewater is a principal pathway for emission of microplastics into the environment.

This will include development of a new type of tracer test to analyze established processes for wastewater treatment. This will allow researchers to verify how effectively different cleaning processes can remove microplastics in industrial wastewater treatment plants and how significant industrial emissions of microplastics actually are.

In addition to process optimization, the project will also focus on targeted development of specific flocculants to improve the retention of microplastics. The optimized or newly developed technologies and flocculants will also be applicable in existing wastewater treatment plants.

About EnviroChemie

EnviroChemie GmbH has established a reputation for reliable and innovative technology for water and wastewater treatment, specializing in developing and implementing customized solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical industry and life sciences.

This ISO-9001 certified engineering company was founded in 1976 and offers a holistic range of “Made in Germany” branded products and services based on chemical-physical, biological and membrane filtration processes, whose pedigree relies on its long list of research achievements and patents.

EnviroChemie adopts a partnership approach in which client specialized needs and characteristics form the basis for individual design, planning, engineering, building and commissioning of pharmaceutical wastewater treatment plants.

With more than 30,000 plants sold worldwide, EnviroChemie can apply unrivalled experience to continuous development of innovative and reliable industrial water and wastewater technologies.

EnviroChemie specializes in supporting customers in projects, where effluents must be specifically treated in order to:

• Remove hazardous substances from wastewater (e.g. advanced oxidation processes)
• Inactivate streams containing biologically active ingredients (e.g. vaccines, antigens, etc.) by means of thermal sterilization technology
• Eliminate pharmaceuticals implementing advanced oxidation processes (e.g. ozonation)
• Generate green energy (biogas) from digested organic matter (COD) implementing anaerobic treatment technology (e.g. at insulin production facilities)

EnviroChemie products are developed and supplied from three sites in Germany and Switzerland and the company operates 23 sales and service offices worldwide.