Human activities such as steal production generate waste flows that need to be cleaned-up before their release into the environment. Research performed at ELI/ELIM/Bioengineering aim at developing and mastering (micro)biological processes that can be used in the biodegradation of pollutant-contaminated soil and water to be bioremediated. Such approaches rely on a good understanding and control of interacting physical, chemical and biological processes. They also require suitable analytical means to characterize the composition of complex environmental samples.