Assessment of Valuable and Critical Elements Recovery Potential in Ashes from Processes of Solid Municipal Waste and Sewage Sludge Thermal Treatment

Monika Kasina, Piotr Rafał Kowalski, Bartłomiej Kajdas and Marek Michalik
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Monika Kasina: Institute of Geological Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 3a, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
Piotr Rafał Kowalski: INŻ-GEO Sp. z o.o. Sp.k., Zatorska 46, 51-215 Wrocław, Poland
Bartłomiej Kajdas: Centre for Environmental Education, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 5, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
Marek Michalik: Institute of Geological Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 3a, 30-387 Kraków, Poland

Resources, 2020, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: Due to the increasing amount of produced and accumulated wastes, a potential source of elements might be the global waste stream coming from the waste incineration process. As a result of this process, bottom ash, fly ash and air pollution control residues are produced. The goal of this study was to evaluate the raw material potential of the anthropogenic materials which are fly ashes from municipal waste incineration and municipal sewage sludge incineration, and the possibility for the recovery of metallic or other economically valuable elements by comparison of their chemical composition with the chemical composition of Earth materials (ultramafic, mafic and felsic igneous rocks, various sedimentary rocks), and with their lowest content in currently exploited ores. Fly ashes contain more valuable and critical elements when compared to Earth materials; however, they are less concentrated in comparison to the content in currently exploited ores. Since natural resources are becoming depleted, the costs of exploitation, mineral processing and related operations are increasing and the fly ashes are easily accessible. Cheap materials do not demand complicated treatment which might be considered as a future source of P, Zn, Sn, Cr, Pb, Au and Ag, and thus fulfilling the assumptions of close-loop economy and to maximize natural resources protection.

Keywords: fly ash; waste incineration; critical and valuable elements; anthropogenic resources (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jresou:v:9:y:2020:i:11:p:131-:d:440992

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