An Integrated Strategy for Pre-Disposal of Spent Cation-Exchange Resins by Repurposing Industrial By-Products

Francesco Galluccio, Andrea Santi, Edoardo Rizzi, Fabio Fattori, Gabriele Magugliani, Veronica Piazza, Chiara Milanese, Giacomo Diego Gatta, Luca Fornara, Elena Macerata, Mario Mariani and Eros Mossini ()
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Francesco Galluccio: Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Radiation Chemistry, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
Andrea Santi: Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Radiation Chemistry, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
Edoardo Rizzi: Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Radiation Chemistry, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
Fabio Fattori: Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Radiation Chemistry, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
Gabriele Magugliani: Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Radiation Chemistry, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
Veronica Piazza: Laboratory of Catalysis and Catalytic Processes, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
Chiara Milanese: Hydrogen Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia & C.S.G.I., Viale Taramelli 16, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Giacomo Diego Gatta: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Milan, Via S. Botticelli 23, 20133 Milano, Italy
Luca Fornara: Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Elena Macerata: Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Radiation Chemistry, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
Mario Mariani: Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Radiation Chemistry, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
Eros Mossini: Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Radiation Chemistry, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-21

Abstract: Large amounts of spent, radioactive, ion-exchange resins have been generated worldwide, and their production is expected to grow due to a renaissance of nuclear power. Such waste is being stored at individual plant sites around the world, awaiting a reliable disposal route to overcome the downsides of the state-of-the-art management approaches. In this work, a first-of-its-kind pre-disposal strategy is proposed, based on the integration of a heterogeneous Fenton-like treatment with conditioning in an alkali-activated matrix. In particular, the circular economy is pursued by repurposing two industrial by-products, coal fly ash and steel slag, both as catalysts of the Fenton treatment and precursors of the conditioning matrix. The obtained waste forms have been preliminarily tested for leaching and compressive strength according to the Italian waste acceptance criteria for disposal. The proposed technology, tested at laboratory scale up to 100 g of virgin cationic resin, has proven successful in decomposing the waste and synthesizing waste forms with an overall volume increase of only 30%, thereby achieving a remarkable result compared to state-of-the-art technologies.

Keywords: waste management; integrated strategy; spent ion-exchange resins; repurposing industrial by-products; circular economy; heterogeneous Fenton wet oxidation; alkali-activated materials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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