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Critical themes in selected industry sectors (agriculture, manufacturing, building, transport and tourism) across the four case study countries are identified and discussed. A review also occurred regarding industry response to the demand for green skills; generic and specific green skills across industries of the four case study countries; the role of TVET in addressing industry needs; key impediments to the response of TVET to green skills; and, initiatives that work for countries to fast track reforms in TVET. Potential areas for further research are examined.

In recent years, interest in the environmental occurrence and effects of microplastics (MPs) has shifted towards our inland waters, and in this chapter we provide an overview of the issues that may be of concern for freshwater environments. The term ‘contaminant of emerging concern’ does not only apply to chemical pollutants but to MPs as well because it has been detected ubiquitously in freshwater systems. The environmental release of MPs will occur from a wide variety of sources, including emissions from wastewater treatment plants and from the degradation of larger plastic debris items. Due to the chemical makeup of plastic materials, receiving environments are potentially exposed to a mixture of micro- and nano-sized particles, leached additives, and subsequent degradation products, which will become bioavailable for a range of biota. The ingestion of MPs by aquatic organisms has been demonstrated, but the long-term effects of continuous exposures are less well understood. Technological developments and changes in demographics will influence the types of MPs and environmental concentrations in the future, and it will be important to develop approaches to mitigate the input of synthetic polymers to freshwater ecosystems.

The widespread occurrence of microplastics in the aquatic environment is well documented through international surveys and scientific studies. Further degradation and fragmentation, resulting in the formation of nanosized plastic particles – nanoplastics – has been highlighted as a potentially important issue. In the environment, both microplastics and nanoplastics may have direct ecotoxicological effects, as well as vector effects through the adsorption of co-contaminants. Plastic additives and monomers may also be released from the polymer matrix and cause adverse effects on aquatic organisms. Although limited information regarding the ecotoxicological effects of nano- and microplastics is available at present, their small size gives rise to concern with respect to the adverse effects and dislocation of these particles inside organisms – similar to issues often discussed for engineered nanomaterials. In the same way, transport of co-contaminants and leaching of soluble substances are much debated issues with respect to the ecotoxicology of nanomaterials.

In this chapter, we draw on existing knowledge from the field of ecotoxicology of engineered nanomaterials to discuss potential ecotoxicological effects of nano- and microplastics. We discuss the similarities and differences between nano- and microplastics and engineered nanomaterials with regard to both potential effects and expected behaviour in aquatic media. One of the key challenges in ecotoxicology of nanomaterials has been the applicability of current test methods, originally intended for soluble chemicals, to the testing of particle suspensions. This often requires test modifications and special attention to physical chemical characterisation and data interpretation. We present an overview of lessons learned from nanomaterials and offer suggestions on how these can be transferred to recommendations for ecotoxicity testing of nano- and microplastics.

Synthetic polymers are one of the most significant pollutants in the aquatic environment. Most research focused on small plastic particles, so-called microplastics (particle size, 1–5,000 μm). Compared to macroplastics, the small size complicates their determination in environmental samples and demands for more sophisticated analytical approaches. The detection methods of microplastics reported in the past are highly diverse. This chapter summarizes different strategies for the sampling of water and sediment and sample treatments, including the separation of plastic particles and removal of natural debris that are necessary prior the identification of microplastics. Moreover, the techniques used for the identification of plastics particles are presented in this chapter.

With the application of the method described in this chapter, microplastics were detected in freshwater systems, such as rivers and lakes worldwide. The abundance of microplastics reported in the studies varied in more than three orders of magnitude.

Furthermore, microplastics are not uniform, as there are many different types of synthetic polymers commercially available. Consequently, a variety of different polymer types is present in the aquatic environment. The knowledge on the type of polymer provides additional information for scientists: the type of polymer dictates its physicochemical properties and the degradation. The environmental degradation of plastics is an important factor for the formation, distribution, and accumulation of microplastics in the aquatic system. Thus, this chapter also summarizes the degradation pathways for synthetic polymers in the environment.

Since the beginning of the 2010s, the number of investigations on microplastics in freshwater increased dramatically. However, almost no study aims at investigating the various sources and fate of microplastics in a catchment. This chapter aims at analyzing the various sources and fate of microplastics for an urban catchment and its hydrosystem (sewage, runoff, etc.). It presents the results obtained during a 3-year study of the Paris Megacity. Such a study required the development of appropriate sampling strategies for each compartment. It was highlighted that fibers are highly concentrated in the studied area, and therefore a focus in this category of microplastics was carried out. The atmospheric fallout exhibited important levels of fibers. However, at the scale of the Parisian agglomeration, wastewater treatment plant disposals and combined sewer overflows represent the major sources (number of fibers introduced per year) among the studied ones.

The presence of microplastics in marine environment is increasingly reported and has been recognized as an issue of emerging concern that might adversely affect wildlife and cause potential risk to the health of marine ecosystems. In addition, preliminary works demonstrated that microplastics are ubiquitously present in many inland waters with concentrations comparable or higher than those observed in marine environments. Asia is the most populous continent in the world, and most Asian countries are under rapid development while facing serious environmental problems. In this chapter, we review the available literature reporting on the occurrence of microplastics in inland waters in Asia. Limited works have provided basic information on the occurrence, distribution, and properties of microplastics in lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries in Asia. Comparison with data from other regions worldwide suggests that microplastic pollution in inland waters in Asia can be more serious. These preliminary results call for more research efforts to better characterize the sources, fate, effects, and risks of microplastics in inland waters. Extensive and in-depth studies are urgently needed to bridge the knowledge gaps to enable a more comprehensive risk assessment of microplastics in inland waters and to support the development of policy addressing this issue.

As the birthplace of our species, the African continent holds a unique place in human history. Upon entering a new epoch, the Anthropocene defined by human-driven influences on earth systems, and with the recognition that plastic pollution is one of the hallmarks of this new age, remarkably little is known about the presence, sources, and fate of plastics (and microplastics (MPs)) within African waters. Research in marine regions, most notably around the coast of South Africa, describes the occurrence of MPs in seabirds and fish species. More recently environmental sampling studies in the same area have quantified plastics in both the water column and sediments. However, despite Africa containing some of the largest and deepest of the world’s freshwater lakes, including Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika as part of the African Great Lakes system, and notable freshwater rivers, such as the River Congo and the Nile, the extent of MPs within the inland waters remains largely unreported. In the only study to date to describe MP pollution in the African Great Lakes, a variety of polymers, including polyethylene, polypropylene, and silicone rubber, were recovered from the gastrointestinal tracts of Nile perch () and Nile tilapia () fished from Lake Victoria. The likely sources of these plastics were considered to be human activities linked to fishing and tourism, and urban waste. In this chapter we discuss the need for research focus on MPs in Africa and how what has been described in the coastal regions and other freshwater environments can be applied to inland African waters. The aforementioned study in Lake Victoria is used to exemplify how small-scale investigations can provide early indications of MP pollution. Lastly we discuss the current challenges and future needs of MP research in African freshwaters.

Contamination with plastic debris has been recognized as one of today’s major environmental quality problems. Because most of the sources are land based, concerns are increasingly focused on the freshwater and terrestrial environment. Fate and transport models for plastic debris can complement information from measurements and will play an important role in the prospective risk assessment of plastic debris. We review the present knowledge with respect to fate and transport modeling of plastic debris in freshwater catchment areas, focusing especially on nano- and microplastics. Starting with a brief overview of theory and models for nonplastic particles, we discuss plastic-specific properties, processes, and existing mass-balance-, multimedia-, and spatiotemporally explicit fate models. We find that generally many theoretical and conceptual approaches from models developed earlier for other types of (low density) particles apply also to plastic debris. A unique feature of plastic debris, however, is its combination of high persistence, low density, and extremely wide size distribution, ranging from the nanometer to the >cm scale. This causes the system behavior of plastic debris to show a far wider variety than most other materials or chemicals. We provide recommendations for further development of these models and implications and guidance for how fate and transport models can be used in a framework for the tiered risk assessment of plastic debris.

The ubiquitous detection of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems promotes the concern for adverse impacts on freshwater ecosystems. The wide variety of material types, sizes, shapes, and physicochemical properties renders interactions with biota via multiple pathways probable.

So far, our knowledge about the uptake and biological effects of microplastics comes from laboratory studies, applying simplified exposure regimes (e.g., one polymer and size, spherical shape, high concentrations) often with limited environmental relevance. However, the available data illustrates species- and material-related interactions and highlights that microplastics represent a multifaceted stressor. Particle-related toxicities will be driven by polymer type, size, and shape. Chemical toxicity is driven by the adsorption-desorption kinetics of additives and pollutants. In addition, microbial colonization, the formation of hetero-aggregates, and the evolutionary adaptations of the biological receptor further increase the complexity of microplastics as stressors. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to synthesize and critically revisit these aspects based on the state of the science in freshwater research. Where unavailable we supplement this with data on marine biota. This provides an insight into the direction of future research.

In this regard, the challenge is to understand the complex interactions of biota and plastic materials and to identify the toxicologically most relevant characteristics of the plethora of microplastics. Importantly, as the direct biological impacts of natural particles may be similar, future research needs to benchmark synthetic against natural materials. Finally, given the scale of the research question, we need a multidisciplinary approach to understand the role of microplastics in a multiple-particle world.

Microplastics (<5 mm particles) occur within both engineered and natural freshwater ecosystems, including wastewater treatment plants, lakes, rivers, and estuaries. While a significant proportion of microplastic pollution is likely sequestered within freshwater environments, these habitats also constitute an important conduit of microscopic polymer particles to oceans worldwide. The quantity of aquatic microplastic waste is predicted to dramatically increase over the next decade, but the fate and biological implications of this pollution are still poorly understood. A growing body of research has aimed to characterize the formation, composition, and spatiotemporal distribution of microplastic-associated (“plastisphere”) microbial biofilms. Plastisphere microorganisms have been suggested to play significant roles in pathogen transfer, modulation of particle buoyancy, and biodegradation of plastic polymers and co-contaminants, yet investigation of these topics within freshwater environments is at a very early stage. Here, what is known about marine plastisphere assemblages is systematically compared with up-to-date findings from freshwater habitats. Through analysis of key differences and likely commonalities between environments, we discuss how an integrated view of these fields of research will enhance our knowledge of the complex behavior and ecological impacts of microplastic pollutants.