Emission of Microplastics to Water, Soil, and Air. What can we do about it?

Microplastics enter the environment through plastic-containing products. The Dutch authorities aim to identify the main sources of these emissions in the Netherlands as to develop measures to reduce microplastic emissions.

Therefore, the RIVM was commissioned to update a previous study on microplastic emissions.

This update study provides a comprehensive overview of the major sources of microplastics in the Netherlands. For this study the RIVM developed a harmonized and open access model, that uses a material flow approach, to calculate microplastic emissions into the environment from various sources. In a next step, an inventory of mitigation measures was derived from literature and an expert workshop. The model was then also used to calculate a first reduction potential of a selection of measures.

The study identified that approximately 80 percent of microplastics end up in the soil, though they can also be released into water and air. The main sources of microplastics include tyre wear from road use, plastic pellets used in industry, and plastic waste. Other sources include paint, clothing, rubber granulate in synthetic turf fields, and some pesticides.

The RIVM has outlined potential measures to reduce emissions, further assessment is needed to determine their feasibility, technical viability, and societal and industry support.

The greatest impact could be achieved by targeting the largest sources, reducing plastic product use, enforcing regulations to prevent plastic pellet leaks during transport, and developing better tyres or filtering tyre wear particles from wastewater could significantly lower emissions. While the latter treatments already exist in urban areas, they are not yet widespread in rural regions.
The full report of this study can be found here.