Environmental Hydrocarbon Pollution and Zero Waste Approach Towards a Sustainable Waste Management

This book discusses the challenges that have arisen due to environmental hydrocarbon wastes, their toxicity to the ecosystem, limitations, the improvement of sustainable techniques, as well as the zero-waste approach used for the management of environmental hydrocarbon wastes for resilient future. The overarching objective of attaining sustainable development worldwide hinges on the effort to enhance both socioeconomic well-being and environmental health for present and future generations. Nevertheless, obstacles exist in reaching these objectives. For instance, the vital goals of ensuring a clean environment face threats due to the ongoing contamination of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems with top-priority pollutants, with petroleum hydrocarbons being the foremost among them. In today's fast-paced society, environmental deterioration is an ecumenical concern. This predicament is intricately linked to unregulated human activities, giving rise to substantial planet problems. Among these, petroleum waste, whether released through spills, leaks from underground tanks, tankers, oil well blowouts, or abandoned refinery sites, leads to extensive contamination of surface soils, groundwater, seas, and oceans, resulting in damage to ecosystems. Additionally, several industries generate a substantial amount of hydrocarbon waste during crude oil processing. To date, various conventional methods have been employed to address these environmental hydrocarbon wastes. In bygone days, technological advancements haven't necessarily reduced the rate of consumption of resources for a high-quality lifestyle. However, from both economic and environmental perspectives, biological treatment stands out as the most efficient approach with co-benefits. Thereafter, the article not only summarizes key insights from studies on the management of environmental hydrocarbon pollutants in the past decade, thereby compiling recent advances in this field, including the involvement of green technologies, the most potentially degradable substrates/classes of hydrocarbons, etc. but also circularity in creating a zero-waste environment.