ABSTRACT
The day-by-day rise in the total amount of solid waste is becoming one of the major global environmental issues. Solid waste production is coupled with the different sectors like wastewater treatment plants, municipality, industrial, medical and pharmaceutical, domestic, agriculture, mining and other community activities. It is strongly associated with the increase in the air, water and soil pollution. It contaminates the environment, disturbs the ecosystem, and also influences the overall health of the human population. Hence, proper disposal, and treatment of solid wastes are essentially required. Degradation by the living systems/or biodegradation has helped in the proper management of the accumulated wastes to a certain extent. Further, developments in the technologies have introduced various new and effective methods for safer degradation of solid wastes. One such type is the application of enzyme extracts (known as enzymatic bioremediation) for the treatment of solid wastes. This Chapter emphasizes the types of solid waste, its disposal, fate in the environment, and toxicity. It also explores the different treatment methods and more specifically the enzyme-based degradation. The different types of enzymes involved in the degradation, their mechanisms of action, and case studies of few of the successfully treated wastes are also discussed.
