A Sustainable Approach Towards Wastewater Treatment in Pharmaceutical Industry: A Review

Abstract Effluents from the pharmaceutical industry have become more concerned in recent years due to rising worries about the presence and management of pharmaceutical pollutants, raw materials, intermediates, and solvents. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest water consumers due to the many processes that require water. Different drug and pharmaceutical production methods result in wastewater containing a wide range of chemicals such as diclofenac, ibuprofen, carbamazepine, and clorfibric acid are commonly found in water and wastewater. As part of wastewater management, it is essential to analyse and design techniques for treating pharmaceutical wastewater in light of the limited available water resources. Furthermore, the industry mandates the reuse of water after impurities such as pharmaceuticals and other toxins. In our study, the main sources of wastewater in the pharmaceutical sector are identified, and the most effective removal technologies are examined and evaluated with the assistance of the study results. Bulk medications, pharmaceutically active substances, and other pharmaceuticals generate wastewater that utilizes much water. This effluent has been analyzed, and solutions for recovering valuable molecules to a considerable extent have been proposed. Finally, the treatment of wastewater has been addressed. Due to the shortcomings of traditional treatment techniques, the authors modified the conventional treatment procedure here using membrane bioreactors and cutting-edge techniques like ozonation, creating a hybrid wastewater treatment technology that may be a better alternative for treating pharmaceutical wastewater.