Catalytic Treatment of Industrial Wastewater Effluents via Integrated Biorefinery Bacterial Systems: A Review

Abstract: Industrial wastewater streams typically contain diverse and persistent contaminants—including dyes, phenoliccompounds, xenobiotics, surfactants, pharmaceutical residues, excess nutrients, and heavy metals—which collectively maketreatment using conventional methods highly challenging [1]. Conventional physicochemical treatments often requiresubstantial chemical inputs, generate hazardous secondary sludge, exhibit limited ability to degrade persistent molecules,and incur high operational costs. In recent years, the integration of biorefinery principles with bacterial catalytic treatmentsystems has emerged as an environmentally sustainable and economically viable solution for industrial wastewaterremediation [2]. These integrated biorefinery bacterial systems not only facilitate pollutant degradation through diverseenzymatic and microbial pathways but also enable resource recovery in the form of bioenergy, bioplastics, organic acids,and other value-added metabolites. This review presents an in-depth evaluation of microbial catalytic mechanisms,integrated system design, process pathways, performance indicators, and industrial implementation challenges associatedwith catalytic wastewater treatment by biorefinery bacterial systems.