Scaling, performance, and quality: Machine-Learning evidence for how WWTP and compost processes shape microplastics
Abstract
Composting is a key pathway for microplastics (MPs) to enter soils via organic waste. Based on 635 records from 99 studies, MP abundance was higher in sludge-based and mixed composts than in plant-derived materials. Meta-analysis of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) found that primary clarification removed the most MPs. Among secondary treatments, MBR sludge had the highest MP levels - 68.53% higher than SBR and 5.6% higher than CAS. The machine-learning models (random forest with SHAP and partial dependence) were used to resolve actionable process levers with R 2 > 0.72 for WWTP process technologies and >0.77 for scenario prediction. Two parameters dominated: total plastic removal rate (TPR) and daily treatment capacity (DTC), with an operational window (TPR ≈ 92.5-96% and DTC <300,000 m 3/d) minimizing downstream MP burdens. Finally, Scenario projections suggest two mitigation pathways: source control to reduce influent loads and performance-based upgrades to sludge handling.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Napper, I. E., & Thompson, R. C. (2019) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.8b06984 · Cited by 475 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
- Authors
- Shu, L., Jiang, Z., Fei, Y., Luo, Y., Ouyang, D., Zhang, Y., Li, J., & Zhang, H.
- Affiliations
- Zhejiang A & F University (CN)
- Jiaxing University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zhang, Yuejin
- Li, Jing
- Zhang, Haibo
- Venue
- Environmental Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2026-08
- Volume
- 302
- Pages
- 124645
- ISSN
- 0013-9351 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W7160270140
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (42477009, 42507048, 42177021)
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LZ24D010001)
- Zhejiang A and F University (2025LFR006)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
- Keywords
- microplastics, composting, wastewater treatment plants, microplastic removal, membrane bioreactor sludge, activated sludge, treatment capacity, soil contamination, organic waste, source control
- MeSH terms
- Machine Learning, Composting, Microplastics, Sewage, Soil Pollutants, Waste Disposal, Fluid, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Wastewater
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
