To industry, sustainable development means continuous innovation, improvement and use of “clean” technologies to make fundamental changes in pollution levels and resource consumption. An industrially sustainable process should, in principle, be characterized by reduction or elimination of waste. Low consumption of energy and nonrenewable raw materials (and high use of carbohydrate feedstocks, such as sugars and starch).
Living systems manage their chemistry more efficiently than man-made chemical plants, and the wastes that are generated are recyclable or biodegradable. Biocatalysts, and particularly enzyme-based processes, operate at lower temperatures and produce less toxic waste, fewer byproducts and lower emissions than conventional chemical processes. They may also use less purified raw materials (selectivity). Use of biotechnology can also reduce energy required for industrial processes. Finally, just as biotechnology is providing us with new tools for diagnosing health problems and detecting harmful contaminants in food, it is yielding new methods of monitoring environmental conditions and detecting pollutants.
Biotechnology in industry employs the techniques of modern molecular biology to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing. Industrial biotechnology also works to make manufacturing processes more efficient for industries such as textiles, paper and pulp, and specialty chemicals. Some observers predict biotechnology will transform the industrial manufacturing sector in much the same way that it has changed the pharmaceutical, agricultural and food sectors. Industrial biotechnology will be a key to achieving industrial and environmental sustainability.