Comparative Critical Review of Microplastic Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Industrial Wastewater: Evidence from Indonesian River and Palm Oil Mill Environments

This review critically examines two peer-reviewed articles published in the Environment and Natural Resources Journal addressing distinct yet complementary dimensions of Indonesia's environmental pollution challenge. Paper 1 (Suparno et al., 2024) presents the first systematic investigation of microplastic (MP) abundance, morphology, and polymer composition in the Batang Anai River estuary, Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatera, reporting MP concentrations of 37–77 particles/L with fragments (49.44%) and black particles (48%) predominating. Paper 2 (Putro, 2022) quantifies greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from anaerobic palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment ponds in South Sumatera, recording mean CH4 and CO2 emission rates of 261.93 g/m2/day and 595.99 g/m2/day respectively, equivalent to 14,571.5 t CO2-eq/year, while demonstrating a renewable energy potential of 1.045 MWe. Both studies provide novel baseline data of high policy relevance, applying rigorous analytical methods including ATR-FTIR spectroscopy (Paper 1) and gas chromatography with closed static chamber methodology (Paper 2). This comparative review assesses the methodological soundness, originality, data quality, and practical implications of both papers, assigns scientific evaluation scores, and identifies areas for future research.