Calamity and Treatment Approach of Sulfate in Palm Oil Mill Effluent: A Mini Review

The palm oil industry is booming, with a projected market valuation of $100 billion by 2030, driven by its diverse applications in food, cosmetics, and biofuels. However, the industry's rapid growth is accompanied by a significant environmental concern: the presence of sulfate in palm oil mill effluent (POME). Sulfate in POME poses a calamity to the ecosystem, leading to eutrophication and toxicity to aquatic life, also contributing to acid rain formation and higher hydrogen sulfide biogas formation. This mini-review highlights the severity of sulfate pollution in POME, its environmental implications, and the challenges associated with its treatment. Various treatment approaches, including chemical, biological, and integrated methods, are discussed, focusing on their efficacy, feasibility, and scalability. On top of that, to guarantee total pollution removal, prevent treated effluents from contaminating the environment, and design more efficient treatment techniques, it is essential to analyze the intermolecular breakdown of compounds during wastewater treatment. Thus, this review intends to comprehend the significance of performing and analyzing intermolecular breakdown, as a promising validation for the end-product of wastewater treatment. The review underscores the need for sustainable and efficient treatment technologies to mitigate the environmental impacts by sulfate in POME, ensuring a systematic pretreatment of POME toward a safe final discharge from excessive sulfate.