Environmental Biotechnology

Environmental biotechnology is the use of living organisms for a wide range of applications in hazardous waste treatment and pollution control. For example, a fungus is used for cleaning a harmful substance discharged by the paper industry. Marine biotechnologists are studying ways that bacteria can detoxify the estuaries of materials such as brines Wed chemicals that cause environmental problems in many industries.

Environmental biotechnology can effectively clean many hazardous waste than conventional methods and significantly reduce our dependence on methods of cleaning the waste, as incineration or hazardous waste sites. This technology can be an advantage for a number of developing countries that face a recurring problem of finding effective ways to treat their waste per day.

How does it work?
Using biotechnology to treat pollution problems is not a new idea. Communities have relied on complex populations of naturally occurring microbes for the treatment of waste water for more than a century. Every living organism, animals, plants, bacteria and so on, ingests nutrients to live and produces a by-product stream as a result. different organisms need different types of nutrients. Some bacteria grow on the chemical components of waste. Some microorganisms, for example, feed on toxic materials such as methylene chloride, detergents and creosote.

Businesses that benefit

• The chemical industry
The use of biocatalysts for the production of novel compounds, reduce wastes and improve chemical purity.

• The plastics industry:
Decreased use of oil for the production of plastic, making "green plastics" from renewable crops like corn or soybeans.

• The paper industry:
Improve production processes, including the use of enzymes to reduce toxic byproducts from pulp.

• The textile industry:
Decreasing toxic byproducts of dead tissue and finishing. laundry detergents are becoming more efficient with the addition of enzymes to their active ingredients.

• Food industry:
Improving the cooking process, the conservatives derived from fermentation and analytical techniques for food safety.

• The livestock sector:
Adding enzymes to improve absorption of nutrients and reduce phosphate products.

• The energy sector:
Use of enzymes for making biofuels and non-polluting agricultural waste.