Treating waste milk contaminated with antibiotics

I am researching the applications of a microorganism that is able to digest waste milk treated with antibiotics. These organisms are hyperthermophilic heterotrophic archaea, such as Thermococcus paralvinellae and Pyrococcus furiosus. These archaea have been successful at growing on waste milk, including milk from dairy cows being treated for mastitis with Ceftiofur, an antibiotic. Because this process occurs at high temperatures, it effectively kills pathogens in the waste milk in addition to degrading the Ceftiofur to undetectable levels.

Currently, there is a lack of methods for proper disposal of waste milk that contains antibiotic residue. Many dairy farmers choose to pasteurize it and feed it to young calves, although this practice is not ideal as it can develop antibiotic resistance in the calves. This waste milk also cannot be added to Municipal Solid Waste or spread onto fields as fertilizer due to the risk of increased antibiotic resistance in the environment. Therefore, the technology being developed in the lab could be a promising method for the disposal of waste milk contaminated with antibiotics.