2736 Introduction With the advancement in technology and modernization, the development of industries is ever increasing along with the generation of effluents from their processes. The require- ment of water in different processes in an industry results in wastewater which is often characterized by the presence of various substances beyond a certain limit so as to pose threat to the environment. Most industrial wastewater sources con- tain high concentration of organic constituents 1 along with recalcitrant and toxic chemicals. The quality and quantity of effluent varies with types of production thus requiring ad- vanced sustainable technologies for economical and efficient treatment. Physical and chemical methods for treating waste- water with high organic content are generally not economi- cal due to high costs of equipment and chemicals along with an additional problem of sludge handling. In contrary, bio- logical methods are often preferred due to simple operation and environmental compatibility 2 . Among various biological treatment systems, the attached growth processes provide a better advantage over suspended growth in maintaining a higher biomass concentration, long solid retention time and tolerance to fluctuating pH, tempera- ture, inhibitory compounds and shock loadings 3–5 . Out of various treatment, moving bed bioreactor is capable of treat- ATIPC – 2020 Special Issue J. Indian Chem. Soc., Vol. 97, No. 12b, December 2020, pp. 2736-2749 Aerobic MBBR as a sustainable technology for industrial effluent treatment: A mini review Roumi Bhattacharya and Debabrata Mazumder* Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, Howrah-711 103, West Bengal, India E- mail: debabrata@civil.iiests.ac.in Manuscript received online 04 December 2020, accepted 25 December 2020 Moving Bed Bioreactor (MBBR) is one of the robust treatment technologies that efficiently treats a wide range of industrial wastewaters. Recalcitrant compounds and substances that are not easily biodegradable are observed to be removed in MBBR systems. Till date, a number of treatability studies have been undertaken for removal of different organics and inorganics present in industrial wastewater through aerobic MBBR systems. The advantages of attached biomass over suspended growth reactors and compact design of the reactor unit make MBBR a favourable option to upgrade existing wastewater treatment plants. The present paper reviews those studies analyzing various process parameters and points out the research gaps that need to be addressed for getting an exhaustive knowledge for opting MBBR for treating industrial effluents. Keywords: Industrial effluent, aerobic MBBR, biological method, biodegradation, organic matter. ing a variety of wastewaters efficiently with necessary modi- fications as and when required 6 . Among various advantages of MBBR as a solution for treating wastewater, efficiency at high COD loading, toler- ance to surge loadings without the problem of sludge bulk- ing makes it a prospective technology 1,7 . It is observed to be stable against hydraulic and shock loads and reaches a steady state condition within a short period of 24 h 5 . More- over, it can be operated at temperatures as high as 50ºC 6 . Recalcitrant micropollutants are efficiently removed in MBBR systems 10 , which are reported often to perform better than MBR or IFAS reactors 11 . MBBR systems have been success- fully implemented in treating several different industrial waste- waters including commercial laundry wastewaters 12 , paper mill wastewater 13–16 , poultry processing wastewater 17 , cheese factory wastes 18 , petroleum refinery 19 and slaughter house 20 , phenolic wastewater 8 . The present paper reviews the prospects of installing MBBR in different industrial wastewater treatment plants along with their performance. It also discusses the research areas on which further studies could be undertaken so that MBBR can be opted as an economically viable as well as efficient option for a wider range of industrial wastewater.