Team Poseidon is Pedro Ferreira, André Miranda, Bernardo Teixeira and Pedro Vicente are from the University of Beira Interior, Portugal.
The problems caused by microplastics has gained a lot of interest in the scientific community, with several studies being published relating the consequences of exposure to microplastics and the association with an increasing risk of developing hormone-dependent diseases.
As a solution for this emergent problem, POSEIDON proposes a bioremediation strategy for the elimination of microplastics from the environment. This innovation is supported by a biotechnological process, that uses a reactor supplied with microorganisms with the capacity to metabolize microplastics. This microorganism can transform plastics into other sub-products non-toxic, like water and carbon dioxide through its natural metabolic pathway.
Poseidon’s technology is easily adapted to wastewaters treatment plants and industries that have plastic contaminated water, only requiring a simple and parallel installation of a bioreactor and pumps to redirect the contaminated and treated water back for the standard path.
