Harnessing environmental microbes for sustainable electronic-waste remediation and circular economy integration

Abstract

The world is facing the fastest-growing crisis of electronic-waste (e-waste), which is projected to surpass 75 million tonnes by 2030, posing a major environmental threat due to heavy metal toxicity from Pb, Cd, Hg and the other plastic components of the electrical wires and the circuit boards etc. Initially categorised as solid waste, all conventional recycling methods for e-waste, like incineration and landfilling, are either energy-intensive or unsustainable in practice. Microorganisms, being the eco-innovators, have the potential to detoxify and recover the important metals (i.e., Au, Ag, Cu, Pd) from these e-waste through various microbial processes like biosorption, bioleaching, and other enzymatic degradation methods. These microbial processes have been established internationally for their bioremedial and resource generation outcomes, like biogenic nanoparticle (NP) (i.e. AgNP. AuNP) generation, pure metal recovery, biosurfactants (i.e. Rhamnolipids, Sophorolipids), organic acids, and bioplastic (Polyhydroxyalkanoates) generation, etc. However, the challenges lie in scaling up these processes as well as ascertaining the product quality and market acceptance. Most importantly, the shortcomings of the regulatory framework for promoting the biotech-based recycling process for these e-waste. In this review, we critically analyse the wondrous role of microbes in e-waste management. A broad spectrum of bacteria like Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas putida and fungi like Aspergillus niger, Candida bombicola participate in sustainable product recovery in numerous ways. It highlights the current research gaps in conjoining the attainable soil microbial ecology with environmental pollution surveillance and remediation. It also brings attention to various e-waste management strategies to combat the threat of toxic waste driven climate change and biodiversity loss.

Keywords

Microbial bioremediation / Biosorption / Eco-innovators / Bioleaching / Biogenic nanoparticles

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