The researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati have developed an environment-friendly wastewater treatment method obtained from spent mushroom waste and a natural enzyme, laccase. The treatment technology has been termed as Biochar-based Hydrological Enzyme-regulated Efficient Mechanism for Antibiotics removal (BHEEMA). It employs laccase, to eliminate antibiotics from wastewater. This has the potential to efficiently treat the harmful antibiotics found in industrial effluent, hospital discharge and surface water. Besides, the biochar extracted from spent mushroom waste immobilises the laccase enzyme to make it stable for reuse purposes.
In comparison to the traditional wastewater treatment methods, this biochar method is sustainable, cost-efficient, and scalable. Further, it does not release toxic by-products. The developed system had achieved degradation efficiency in the range of 90-95 per cent on fluoroquinolone antibiotics at a lab scale (within three hours of application).