The search for new metabolisms and study of microbial diversity has spread worldwide in the past 20 years through the use of molecular techniques. A strategy employed to achieve expression of enzymes with a useful function is genetic engineering applied to the transformation of known cultivable strains. However, such strategy is of difficult application in bioremediation due to the complexity of pollutants. This has spurred the search for bioprospecting alternatives, in which microorganisms and their useful metabolisms are selected through a process of continuous adaptation. This strategy proposes adapting microbial consortia allowing evaluation of a higher number of species and their genetic potential for waste recovery. The following paper discusses two examples where the strategy have proven to be effective in the Colombian context: A microbial consortia for nitrogen fixation, adapted to 59 gr.L-1 of Ammonia, and the transformation of anaerobic effluent into biopolymers at a rate of 1.12 g/ L PHB.