Microplastics Removal from Solid Waste Landfill Leachate by Electrocoagulation Process

This study was performed to investigate the removal of microplastics in landfill leachate by applying electrocoagulation process. For this purpose, aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe) plate electrodes were used as anode and/or cathode. Al and Fe electrodes were tested with 6 different anode-cathode combinations as Al-Al, Fe-Fe, Al-Fe, Fe-Al, 2Al-2Al, and 2Fe-2Fe. The operating parameters namely the applied current and the reaction time were optimized to reach maximum microplastic (MP) removal efficiency. The untreated leachate and effluent samples at each electrode pair application were examined under the stereomicroscope and it was determined that Al-Fe electrode was the most efficient pair for microplastic removal. The optimum applied current and time for the Al- Fe pair were determined at 4 A and 45 min, respectively, and approximately 74.63% microplastic removal ratio was obtained in the study.