Introduction to Environmental Biotechnology - Environmental Biotechnology: Theory and Application - page 4

is with regard to waste. All commercial operations generate waste of one form or
another and for many, a proportion of what is produced is biodegradable. With
disposal costs rising steadily across the world, dealing with refuse constitutes an
increasingly high contribution to overheads. Thus, there is a clear incentive for all
businesses to identify potentially cost-cutting approaches to waste and employ
them where possible. Changes in legislation throughout Europe, the US and
elsewhere, combined with growing environmental awareness and a burgeoning
demand for reduced carbon footprints have inevitably driven these issues higher
up the political agenda and biological methods of waste treatment have gained
far greater acceptance as a result. For those industries with particularly high
biowaste production, the various available treatment biotechnologies can offer
considerable savings.
Manufacturing industries can benefit from the applications of whole organisms
or isolated bio-components. Compared with conventional chemical processes,
microbes and enzymes typically function at lower temperatures and pressures.
The lower energy demands this makes leads to reduced costs, but also has
clear benefits in terms of both the environment and work-place safety. Addi-
tionally, biotechnology can be of further commercial significance by converting
low cost organic feedstocks into high value products or, since enzymatic reac-
tions are more highly specific than their chemical counterparts, by deriving
final substances of high relative purity. Almost inevitably, manufacturing com-
panies produce wastewaters or effluents, many of which contain biodegradable
contaminants, in varying degrees. Though traditional permitted discharges to
sewer or watercourses may be adequate for some, other industries, particularly
those with recalcitrant or highly concentrated effluents, have found significant
benefits to be gained from using biological treatment methods themselves on
site. Though careful monitoring and process control are essential, biotechnology
stands as a particularly cost-effective means of reducing the pollution potential of
wastewater, leading to enhanced public relations, compliance with environmental
legislation and quantifiable cost-savings to the business.
Those involved in processing organic matter, for example or with drying, print-
ing, painting or coating processes, may give rise to the release of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) or odours, both of which represent environmental nuisances,
though the former is more damaging than the latter. For many, it is not possi-
ble to avoid producing these emissions altogether, which leaves treating them
to remove the offending contaminants the only practical solution. Especially for
relatively low concentrations of readily water soluble VOCs or odorous chemi-
cals, biological technologies can offer an economic and effective alternative to
conventional methods.
The use of biological cleaning agents is another area of potential benefit, espe-
cially where there is a need to remove oils and fats from process equipment,
work surfaces or drains. Aside from typically reducing energy costs, this may
also obviate the need for toxic or dangerous chemical agents. The pharmaceuti-
cal and brewing industries, for example both have a long history of employing
enzyme-based cleaners to remove organic residues from their process equipment.