Cosmetic products are substances used to clean, scent, beautify, and protect our body’s nails, hair, lips, mouth, etc.
The substances used in these products; can be classified as moisturizers, preservatives, detergents, antiseptics, and antioxidants.
Cosmetic industry wastewater contains various compounds such as organic and inorganic. Organic compounds are hydrocarbons, proteins, ethers, esters, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, while inorganics are acids, hydroxides, salts, oxides, and heavy metal compounds.
Cosmetic industry wastewater is a type of wastewater that is very difficult to treat due to the pollutants it contains. Discharging this wastewater to the receiving environment without treatment causes serious environmental problems. Cosmetic industry wastewater contains pollutants such as relatively high chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids (SS), oil, and phosphorus. DAF units and coagulation/flocculation processes are often used to separate sludge from this type of wastewater.
Treatment of cosmetic industry wastewater can be carried out by chemical, biological, and advanced treatment methods or combinations thereof.