{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T20:20:21Z","timestamp":1788812421106,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":88,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778716800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100016247","name":"Wroc\u0142aw University of Environmental and Life Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100016247","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05cs8k179","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004442","name":"National Science Centre","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2025\/09\/X\/NZ9\/00654"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025\/09\/X\/NZ9\/00654"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004442","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["2025\/09\/X\/NZ9\/00654"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025\/09\/X\/NZ9\/00654"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03ha2q922","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The progressive deployment of renewable energy systems has engendered a considerable increase in the generation of glycol-based coolant waste, specifically ethylene glycol (EG) and propylene glycol (PG), thereby raising significant environmental apprehensions. This review analyses the critical environmental challenge and examines the feasibility of microbial degradation as a viable and sustainable alternative to glycol waste treatment, while highlighting significant gaps in current hazardous glycol waste management practices. Present waste management practices are largely founded on incineration or membrane filtration approaches, both of which exhibit significant energy demands and inefficiencies in large-scale waste handling. Reported performance ranges from &gt;99% EG recovery at 10\u201316 kWh\/m3 by electrodialysis and 80\u201395% recovery at 2\u20134 MJ\/kg by vacuum distillation, to ~17 MJ\/kg combustion heat from incineration; biological methods, though promising, currently operate below 10% glycol concentration, an order of magnitude below the 10\u2013100% range in real coolants. We analyze the current understanding of metabolic pathways involved in glycol biodegradation, drawing on the peer-reviewed literature, bioinformatics, and patent databases. Special attention is given to the challenges of high glycol concentrations in industrial coolants and the formation of toxic oxidation products during thermal aging. The review also explores recent advances in genetic engineering approaches to enhance microbial degradation efficiency. Finally, we discuss the potential integration of biological recycling methods into existing waste management systems and future prospects for converting glycol waste into value-added products through microbial biotransformation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules31101662","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T16:27:56Z","timestamp":1778776076000},"page":"1662","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The Dark Side of Green Energy: Glycol Waste and the Microbes That Can Transform It"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"31","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-0248-3897","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julia Alicja","family":"Dybka","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"BIOSUS Student\u2019s Scientific Club, Laboratory for Biosustainability, Institute of Biology, Wroc\u0142aw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Ko\u017cuchowska 5b, 51-631 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-8255-4510","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Klaudiusz","family":"Tomczyk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BIOSUS Student\u2019s Scientific Club, Laboratory for Biosustainability, Institute of Biology, Wroc\u0142aw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Ko\u017cuchowska 5b, 51-631 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2903-7336","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mateusz","family":"Szczepa\u0144czyk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory for Biosustainability, Institute of Biology, Wroc\u0142aw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Ko\u017cuchowska 5b, 51-631 Wroc\u0142aw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2343-769X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katarzyna Ewa","family":"Kosiorowska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Bioeconomy, Wroc\u0142aw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 37a, Che\u0142mo\u0144skiego Street, 51-630 Wroc\u0142aw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9028","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-013-1952-y","article-title":"Natural and Enhanced Biodegradation of Propylene Glycol in Airport Soil","volume":"21","author":"Toscano","year":"2014","journal-title":"Environ. 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