Using microbes to clean up pollution

Fledging green venture taps Chinese market with pollution-eating fungi

The Korea Herald, in collaboration with the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute, is presenting a series of articles introducing small but promising environmental tech firms. The following is the second installment. ― Ed.


Whether it is an abandoned mine, an oil spill site or a reservoir contaminated with toxic chemicals, Coenbio Co. sticks to its principle in finding solutions: Let the microbes clean up.

Microbes such as fungi and bacteria are nature’s best and longest-serving garbage men, and with a little help from man, they will do their service on the human-made messes on Earth, the company believes. 

“It’s called bioremediation,” said Yum Kyu-jin, chief executive and founder of the firm, explaining the concept behind his business.

“What we need to do is to put the right microbes on the right assignment and create an environment where they can best perform.”

It may sound simple, but it requires a high level of expertise and accumulated know-how, the scientist-cum-entrepreneur said.

“In a controlled lab environment, a microbial agent may work just as anticipated, breaking down the contaminants and eating them away. But in reality, there are so many variables and factors that affect the process,” he said.

In the domestic market, Yum’s tiny venture has proved several times that it can deliver low-cost, low-impact and energy-efficient solutions by using microbes.

He likened the way microbial treatment works to an amphibious landing operation. 

Yum Kyu-jin, CEO of Coenbio (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)

“The microbial agents that we injected into the target site are like an amphibious landing unit, which opens the way for the main force to do the real war,” he said.

Coenbio’s pollution-loving microbes gobble up the main pollutants ― oil, heavy metal, toxic chemicals and the like ― then indigenous microorganisms are activated and nature restores itself, he explained.

Yum recalled a project last year in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, to reduce the odor from foot-and-mouth disease burial sites.

Yeongju was among the hardest-hit areas during the 2010-2011 massive outbreak of the disease, which led to the culling of hundreds of thousands of pigs and cows.

Coenbio installed microbe-based systems in the landfill sites that control the stench, suggesting local authorities replace the filters twice a month. The microbial agents, however, worked too well and there was no need for a single filter replacement for the entire summer, Yum said.

“I was half proud and half embarrassed. As a businessman, I blew the chance to bring in a solid stream of revenue by over-achieving,” he said.

Yet the experience reinforced his faith in using naturally occurring microorganisms in ecological restoration and pollution reduction instead of genetically modified ones.

“Microbes known to researchers are perhaps less than 1 percent of those that exist in nature. What we need to do is to discover more.”

The firm, based in Seongnam, south of Seoul, holds over 300 strains of microorganisms and scores of domestic and international patents on them.

Coenbio, which was founded in 2002 as a sole proprietorship and incorporated only in 2008, landed a milestone deal last year in China, which Yum hopes will lead to more business opportunities in the fast-growing Chinese environmental market.

The 7.5 billion won contract calls for the Korean firm to supply microbial products to improve agricultural land in three provinces of Northeast China, including Heilongjiang.

Soils there are highly alkaline, with pH values higher than 8.5, and are difficult to take into agricultural production.

In a pilot test, Coenbio showed that its tailored solution can not only reduce the alkalinity of soils, but also help get rid of herbicide residues.

“Through our newly established factory in China, we will start delivering the products in November,” Yum said.

Agriculture is where the entrepreneur is setting his sights on as another playground for his versatile microbes.

“We’re looking for revolutionary ways to improve conventional animal feeds, using microorganisms,” he said.

In a similar process to the way cabbage becomes kimchi, microbes may help turn the feeds softer and easier to digest, he explained.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)