Research Projects

Electronic waste, also known as E-waste, is an emergent concern in both developed and developing countries around the world. The widespread use of electronic materials caused a large amount of waste which resulted in the release of toxic compounds such as heavy metals, which is a major environmental concern. The increasing amount of E-waste would be about 60 million metric tonnes by the year 2022. The current trends of recovery of the metals using pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy involve high temperature, toxic chemicals and harmful to the environment. But biometallurgy technique is a promising approach to recover the metals using eco – friendly manner. Bioremediation is the process in which the microorganism is used to eliminate the contaminants by either absorption or degradation. The microorganism and their metabolites are playing a significant role in the removal of the contaminants. The main advantages of the microbial techniques are they works at room temperature and pressure with mild conditions. The commonly used microbes for bioremediations are the aerobic microbes since it is easy to isolate and control during the process. The main objective of the research is to develop environmentally friendly processes using biological methods in order to recover valuable resource materials and metals from electronic waste.