In the last decade, the estimated worldwide annual production of synthetic chemicals was in the range of some 300 × 10⁶ metric tonnes resulting in a flux of synthetically produced organic material of approximately 40 g m^-2 year^-1 in industrialized countries, equivalent to approximately 15% of the net primary biomass production. Many of the 60,000 chemical compounds that are in daily use are introduced either directly or indirectly into the environment. The list of these is growing every year by some 1200 new compounds. For a long time the "dilute, bury, or burn" practice has been applied to the disposal of all kinds of different wastes and only those chemicals with demonstrated toxicity were collected as "hazardous waste" to be disposed of after use in some way or other. As a result of this policy, surface waters, groundwaters, soil, and air have become regionally contaminated with both organic and inorganic pollutants to an extent of seriously threatening the productivity of agriculture and the quality of life. Therefore, considerable effort has been spent over the last three decades in the field of waste management and today it is generally accepted that one should aim to (1) minimize the waste generated, (2) reduce the toxicity of that waste, and (3) find ways to dispose of and degrade accumulated waste. [...]