The Use of Enzymes for Wastewater Treatment in the Pulp and Paper Industry – A New Possibility

Biological systems have been employed successfully for manv years in the treatment of pulp and paper mill waste water. Previously, not very much was known about enzymes and their possibilities in pulp and paper industry wastewater treatment. There is currently a lot of research activity in the enzymology of lignin degradation. Ligninase, cellulase, peroxidase, etc. are the most important enzymes, especially peroxidase, which is used for color removal in bleaching effluents. It is also possible to mix enzymes together with special microbes, which normally do not have high enzvme activity, and remove recalcitrant and harmless compounds from wastewater. The use of novel enzymes and rDNA technology in sludge and wastewater treatment will also be discussed.