ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the stock of effluent arising from different sectors of active pharmaceutical ingredients, bulk drugs, and related pharmaceutics, which use large quantities of water. It proposes strategies to recover to a large extent the valuable compounds, to demonstrate the economic benefit of recovery, and discusses the treatment of very dilute but detrimental effluents. The chapter aims to understand the nature of pharmaceutical waste originating at the industry site, categorize the different industrial processes to classify their waste, and access the effectiveness of advanced processes and hybrid technologies for the removal of pharmaceuticals from aqueous systems. Pharmaceutical effluent is generally characterized by high toxicity, and the presence of refractory compounds limits its biodegradability and makes it a potential threat to the natural environment and to effluent treatment plants. Several categories of pharmaceuticals raise particular concerns, and among them, antibiotics have a significant impact on the environment as they can disrupt effluent treatment processes and adversely affect ecosystems.
