Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are serious environmental pollutants which are distributed widely throughout the world. In Japan, large amounts of PCBs have been stored for the last 27 years. Recently, instead of incineration, new technologies to degrade PCBs using chemical reactions have been developed as a safe process. We are trying to develop a hybrid system which uses ultraviolet irradiation and biodegradation. The advantage of this system is that the reaction can be conducted at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure and therefore the risk associated with faulty operation is very little when compared to operating high temperature or pressure. In this pilot plant study, we prove that the system is able to breakdown PCBs completely and safely.

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