Princeton alumni design microplastic Filter deployed in Atlantic City
Princeton graduates have created a unique device to remove microplastics from wastewater. This system is now active in Atlantic City.
The big filter works like natural water-repelling leaves. These leaves push water away while pulling tiny plastic bits toward them for collection and recycling. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority in New Jersey says this is crucial for public safety.
Although no national law forces utilities to clean these specific pollutants, the local authority is not waiting. Microplastics build up in sewage from laundry machines, storms, and trash. Most current plants are built for heavy metals and solid waste, not small plastic pieces.
The local group hired PolyGone Technologies, a new company started by two Princeton students named Nathanial Banks and Yidian Liu. They began a two-year test to check if their big cleaning machine can fix pollution in the town of forty thousand people.
Early lab work proved the model could take away 98% of plastic bits from dirty water. The next step is copying this high success rate using the full commercial equipment. The team aims to treat difficult waste using very little power and material.