Soil Remediation: Biological Approaches, Regulatory Frameworks, and Circular Economy

Soil pollution, stemming from industrial activities, agriculture, mining, waste disposal, and urbanization, poses significant threats to soil quality, biodiversity, and human health. Efforts to address soil pollution involve prevention, remediation, and sustainable land management practices. Biological approaches to soil remediation, such as bioremediation, harness the power of living organisms like plants, microorganisms, and fungi to mitigate pollution and restore environmental health. This eco-friendly technology offers a promising avenue for restoring contaminated soil by utilizing natural processes. For instance, hyperaccumulator plants excel at absorbing heavy metals, while microorganisms break down organic pollutants into harmless by-products through biodegradation. Fungi are particularly effective at degrading complex organic compounds and can thrive in diverse soil environments. This chapter will discuss soil remediation through biological procedures and the regulatory frameworks. Besides, the role of microbes (bioremediation) in circular economy in addressing soil pollution is also discussed.