Environmental Remediation

Microplastic contamination in soils is an emerging environmental challenge requiring effective and scalable remediation strategies. This review synthesizes advances in physical, chemical, biological, and hybrid approaches, focusing on mechanisms, performance, and practical applicability. Physical methods, particularly adsorption using biochar, achieve removal efficiencies exceeding 86% for 1 μm polystyrene microplastics and maintain > 85% efficiency after multiple reuse cycles, demonstrating strong durability. Filtration and aggregation systems, such as permeable reactive barriers, reach up to 81.55% removal but are less effective in co-contaminated conditions. Chemical strategies exhibit the highest efficiencies. Dielectric barrier discharge plasma achieves 96.5–98.7% degradation within 30–60 min, while electrochemical coagulation reaches ~98% removal via flocculation. Thermal treatments, including pyrolysis, enable near-complete microplastic removal (~100%) at ≥400 °C, although high energy demands limit in situ application. Chemical amendments also improve soil quality, increasing organic matter by ~7.35% and enhancing nutrient availability. Biological approaches offer sustainable but slower remediation. Microbial degradation achieves up to ~60% breakdown within 21 days, while enzyme–microbe systems reach ~21.4% over 60 days. Earthworm activity enhances fragmentation and nutrient cycling (up to 36.1%), whereas phytoremediation alone shows minimal direct degradation (<1% over 12 months). Hybrid strategies, particularly biochar-based systems, provide the most practical solutions by combining adsorption, microbial stimulation, and soil restoration, but their effectiveness in degrading microplastics needs further verification. These systems enhance microbial biomass (up to 57.67%), nutrient availability (up to 66.02%), and crop yield (up to 81.41%). Overall, physicochemical methods ensure rapid removal (>90%), biological approaches support long-term degradation, and hybrid systems offer scalable, sustainable remediation for field applications. Full article