Organic wastes bioremediation and its changing prospects

Abstract

Increasing inappropriate anthropogenic activities and industrialization have resulted in severe environmental pollution worldwide. Their effective treatment is vital for general health concerns. Depending on the characteristics of pollutants, the severity of pollution may differ. For sustainable treatment of polluted environments, bioremediation is accepted as the most efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly method hence largely preferred. However, every bioremediation technique has its own unique advantages and limitations due to its defined applications criteria. In bioremediation, microorganisms play a decisive role in detoxification by degrading, mineralizing and accumulating various forms of harmful and biodegradable pollutants from the surroundings and transforming them into less lethal forms. Bioremediation is performed ex-situ or in-situ, based on location of polluted site as well as characteristics, type and strength of the pollutants. Furthermore, the most popular methodologies for bioremediation include bioaugmentation, biostimulation, bioattenuation among others which depend on the prevailing environmental factors into the microbial system. Implementing them appropriately and effectively under ex-situ or in-situ method is extremely important not only for obtaining efficient treatment but also for the best economic, environmental, and social impacts. Therefore, this review aims to analyze various bioremediation methods for organic pollutants remediation from soil/sediments and wastewater, their strength, limitation, and insights for the selection of appropriate bioremediation techniques based on nature, types, degree, and location of the pollution. The novelty aspect of the article is to give updates on several key supporting technologies which have recently emerged and exhibited great potential to enhance the present bioremediation efficiency such as nanobubble, engineered biochar, mixotrophic microalgae, nanotechnology etc. Moreover, amalgamation of these technologies with existing bioremediation facilities are significantly changing the scenario and scope of environmental remediation towards sustainable bioremediation.