Micro-plastic characteristics and removal of ammonia-nitrogen in batch culture

Abstract

Plastic waste has become a sensitive issue in the world since this material needs a longer time to degrade. This material will take a month to a thousand years to decompose. Thus, would contribute to the environment pollution, which will affect human health and aquatic life. This research study focused on the biodegradation process of micro-plastic (PE, PP, PET and PS) in the batch culture system using a colony of bacteria obtained from leachate in Ayer Hitam Landfill, Puchong. After the batch experiment of micro-plastic degradation, percentage removal of ammonia-nitrogen, chemical structure and percentage weight loss were examined and evaluated. Succeeding through the incubation of micro-plastic in batch culture for fourteen (14) days period, biodegradation was verified by the estimation of the dry weight loss. From the result obtained, dry weight loss of polyethylene (PE) is the highest (3.46%) in 14 days and polyethylene (PE) shows the greater removal of ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) (44.17%). Besides that, polystyrene (PS) micro-plastic showed a significant change in chemical structural which was obtained by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). Here, the new absorption peak C=O (aldehydes) was present in PS micro-plastic. Furthermore, PS micro-plastic has a high percentage mass loss in the second stage of thermal degradation by Thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis. It can be concluded that incubation time is needed to optimize the micro-plastic in the biodegradation process.