Novel Bioremediation Methods in Waste Management

Abstract

Bioremediation technologies are one of the novel methods in the field of waste and environment management and are presently gaining immense credibility for being eco-compatible. Bioremediation using microbes has been well accepted as an environment friendly and economical treatment method for disposal of hazardous petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated waste (oily waste). Besides this, earthworms can be used to extract toxic heavy metals, including cadmium and lead, from solid waste from domestic refuse collection and waste from vegetable and flower markets. Other novel methods used recently for treatment of wastes are plasma incineration or plasma assisted gasification and pyrolysis technology. The technologies applied for conditioning include ultrasonic degradation, chemical degradation, enzyme addition, electro-coagulation and biological cell destruction. Genetic engineering is another method for improving bioremediation of heavy metals and organic pollutants. Transgenic plants and associated bacteria constitute a new generation of genetically modified organisms for bioremediation.