Project description DEENESFRITPL Recruiting microbes to remove microplastics from the water Microplastics are tiny but they are one of the biggest sources of permanent pollution for the environment. This causes an urgent need for sustainable, inexpensive biobased microplastics removal strategies. To this aim, the EU-funded REMIPLASWAS project introduces the deployment of microbial autochthonous consortia as an environmentally friendly approach for the disposition of microplastics in wastewaters. The project tries to make the most out of the ability of microorganisms to transform organic matter and extract pollutants through a chain of different catabolic reactions energised by the induction of non-stereoselective enzymes. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective The accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in the environment poses a great threat to the biosphere. Known and demonstrated conventional methodologies used in the treatment of MPs in wastewater have several limitations. Therefore, there is the need to develop new eco-friendly, cost-effective biobased MPs (Polyethylene terephthalate-PET) removal strategies. Microorganisms can transform organic matter as well as remove pollutants through a chain of different catabolic reactions energized by the induction of non-stereoselective enzymes. Hence, this project will be the first attempt to deploy microbial autochthonous consortia as an eco-friendly remediation technique and strategy in the removal of MPs in the wastewaters. However, to overcome the limitations associated with cultivation and identification of MP degraders, I propose the use of a natural microbial consortium that harbours a plastic-degrading microbial community in wastewater after an enrichment process. Thus, in this project, an enhancement of microorganisms with catabolic capacity to transform MPs will be used for the development of a bio-based tailored technology, which represents the promising potential of this project. The overall objectives of this project are to: (1) characterize MPs in wastewater (2) isolate autochthonous consortium of MPs (PET) degraders in a short term enrichment experiment, study the microbial communities participating in MPs removal and identification of key genes in the catabolic process (3) select a microbial consortium with the ability to remove MPs and study of the fate of MPs in batch experiments (4) scale-up the process into a bench-scale bioreactor to develop a bioaugmentation technology with a microbial native consortium based on their ability to degrade MPs. (5) assess the toxicity of the resulting effluent after MPs process (6) verify the implementation and validate the design of the bioreactor, calculating the effectiveness of the equipment through a predictive model Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processeswastewater treatment processesengineering and technologyenvironmental biotechnologybioremediationbioreactorsnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollutionnatural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiology Programme(s) HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme Topic(s) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01-01 - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 Call for proposal HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-PF - MSCA-PF Coordinator UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA Net EU contribution € 181 152,96 Address CUESTA DEL HOSPICIO SN 18071 Granada Spain See on map Region Sur Andalucía Granada Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost No data