Retention of microplastics with permeable pavements

A study carried out by the Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, and reported by media outlets such as National Geographic, Efeverde and Medio Ambiente News, shows that the use of permeable pavements in urban areas reduces microplastic pollution.

Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than 5 mm. During rainfall events, urban runoff transports large quantities of microplastics and, if unimpeded, carries them into natural water systems. However, according to the aforementioned study, permeable pavements, by retaining microplastics, would reduce their contribution to the natural environment by more than 90%.

Permeable pavements are composed of overlapping layers of different materials. While the upper layers are made of asphalt pavement or directly of landscaped land, the lower layers are made of fill materials with a granulometry that increases with depth.

Thanks to a study by the Polytechnic University of Valencia, we know that permeable pavements in urban areas are an effective and viable system for the retention of plastic pollutants that avoids their discharge into nature. Moreover, in addition to this added advantage, permeable pavements allow for the storage and reuse of filtered water by means of appropriate devices.