Navigating the complexity of pharmaceutical wastewater treatment by “effective strategy, emerging technology, and sustainable solution”

In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has experienced rapid growth, leading to an expansion of the industry's scale and an increase in the discharge of pharmaceutical wastewater. The manufacturing process in the pharmaceutical industry is complex and involves multiple raw materials, resulting in the generation of various pharmaceutical intermediates and metabolic by-products. This leads to pharmaceutical wastewater that is highly toxic and difficult to be purified. Some pharmaceutical pollutants also posed potential threats to human health and the environment, such as widespread residual pharmaceuticals and antibiotic resistance. Therefore, pharmaceutical wastewater presents a significant pollution challenge to the pharmaceutical industry and the development of water environment. To address this challenge, this review comprehensively assesses and analyzes the issues related to pharmaceutical wastewater treatment faced by the industry. This includes examining the characteristics of pharmaceutical wastewater, the historical evolution of wastewater treatment processes in the industry, and the key features of treatment processes. Additionally, the review provides an outlook on future technological developments, aiming to serve as a reference and guide for the development of efficient and clean new treatment technologies for pharmaceutical wastewater, as well as the resource utilization of valuable components in the wastewater.