ENVIRONMENTAL-POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL BY EFFECTIVE WASTE TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT

Considering the diversity of the wastes being generated especially the hazardous wastes, it has become essential to develop effective techniques to treat and manage these wastes. Work has been carried out by the author and others in the area of photochemical, chemical, and biochemical treatment of hazardous industrial wastes from coke ovens (steel plants simulated waste in the laboratory), paper mills, distilleries, vanaspati and sugar industries. An effective technique of Aerobic-Anaerobic-Cometabolic-Biodegradation (AACB)fermentation has been developed to treat industrial wastes. Agrowastes and petrocrops (wild growing plant wastes) can be exploited to get xylose, glucose, furfural, ethanol and cellulase, xylanase, and chitinase enzymes. The use of distillery effluents can promote the production of these biopolymer hydrolysing enzymes from agrowastes and petrocrops. Hazardous wastes including nonbiodegradable plastics may be co-incinerated with low grade coals in rotary cement kilns. Pollution from the combustion of coal can be controlled by refining coal. Hazardous wastes can be adsorbed by low grade coals, coke breeze or washery rejects. Dynamics of interaction of different wastes in soil, water, and air has been studied. Studies on bioremediation of chemically contaminated soil are reported. Fugitive emissions should be arrested. Biochemical techniques in combination with photo- chemical, chemical, thermo-chemical, and physico-chemical pretreatment techniques are promising for the development of effective waste treatment processes in future. Faster anaerobic fermentative degradation techniques are required for the effective treatment and management of wastes. These techniques also generate biogas as a byproduct, and occasionally manure too. Hazardous and other wastes including hospital wastes may be incinerated in specially designed incinerators. R & D work in the area of developing efficient and cost-effective techniques for waste treatment and management should be extended, especially for biodegradation of plastics and other recalcitrant wastes.