Resource recovery and remediation of alkaline wastes

Resource Recovery from Wastes: Towards a Circular Economy (2019)
Book
Macaskie, L. E., Sapsford, D. J., & Mayes, W. M. (Eds.). (2020). Resource Recovery from Wastes: Towards a Circular Economy. London: Royal Society of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1039/9781788016353

The concept of a circular economy has been gaining increasing attention in recent years. Many of the sources of chemicals we have become reliant on are dwindling and the accumulation of waste products poses a serious environmental problem. By recover... Read More about Resource Recovery from Wastes: Towards a Circular Economy.

Sustained bauxite residue rehabilitation with gypsum and organic matter 16 years after initial treatment (2017)
Journal Article
Bray, A. W., Stewart, D. I., Courtney, R., Rout, S. P., Humphreys, P. N., Mayes, W. M., & Burke, I. T. (2018). Sustained bauxite residue rehabilitation with gypsum and organic matter 16 years after initial treatment. Environmental Science and Technology, 52(1), 152-161. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b03568

Bauxite residue is a high volume by-product of alumina manufacture which is commonly disposed of in purpose-built bauxite residue disposal areas (BRDAs). Natural waters interacting with bauxite residue are characteristically highly alkaline, and have... Read More about Sustained bauxite residue rehabilitation with gypsum and organic matter 16 years after initial treatment.

Behaviour and fate of vanadium during the aerobic neutralisation of hyperalkaline slag leachate (2018)
Journal Article
Hobson, A. J., Stewart, D. I., Bray, A. W., Mortimer, R. J., Mayes, W. M., Riley, A. L., …Burke, I. T. (2018). Behaviour and fate of vanadium during the aerobic neutralisation of hyperalkaline slag leachate. The Science of the total environment, 643, 1191-1199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.272

© 2018 Vanadium is a toxic metal present in alkaline leachates produced during the weathering of steel slags. Slag leaching can therefore have deleterious effects on local watercourses due to metal toxicity, the effects of the high pH (9–12.5) and ra... Read More about Behaviour and fate of vanadium during the aerobic neutralisation of hyperalkaline slag leachate.

Options for managing alkaline steel slag leachate: A life cycle assessment (2018)
Journal Article
Gomes, H. I., Mayes, W. M., Baxter, H. A., Jarvis, A. P., Burke, I. T., Stewart, D. I., & Rogerson, M. (2018). Options for managing alkaline steel slag leachate: A life cycle assessment. Journal of cleaner production, 202, 401-412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.163

Management of steel slag (a major by-product of the steel industry) includes the treatment of highly alkaline leachate (pH > 11.5) from rainwater infiltration of slag deposits to prevent adverse impact upon surface or ground waters. This study aims t... Read More about Options for managing alkaline steel slag leachate: A life cycle assessment.

Vanadium: A re-emerging environmental hazard (2018)
Journal Article
Watt, J. A., Burke, I. T., Edwards, R. A., Malcolm, H. M., Mayes, W. M., Olszewska, J. P., …Spears, B. M. (2018). Vanadium: A re-emerging environmental hazard. Environmental Science and Technology, 52(21), 11973-11974. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b05560

Vanadium (V) is a contaminant which has been long confined to the annals of regulatory history. This follows the reduction of its historical primary source (fossil fuel emissions) since the 1970s (e.g., by 80% in the UK). However, V is quickly becomi... Read More about Vanadium: A re-emerging environmental hazard.

Alkaline residues and the environment: a review of impacts, management practices and opportunities (2015)
Journal Article
Gomes, H. I., Mayes, W. M., Rogerson, M., Stewart, D. I., & Burke, I. T. (2016). Alkaline residues and the environment: a review of impacts, management practices and opportunities. Journal of cleaner production, 112(4), 3571-3582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.111

Around two billion tonnes of alkaline residues are produced globally each year by industries such as steel production, alumina refining and coal-fired power generation, with a total production estimate of 90 billion tonnes since industrialisation. Th... Read More about Alkaline residues and the environment: a review of impacts, management practices and opportunities.

A New Perspective on a Global Circular Economy (2019)
Book Chapter
Velenturf, A. P. M., Purnell, P., Macaskie, L. E., Mayes, W. M., & Sapsford, D. J. (2020). A New Perspective on a Global Circular Economy. In Resource recovery from wastes : towards a circular economy (3-22). Royal Society of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1039/9781788016353-00001

© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020. Natural resource exploitation is accelerating in the face of resource decline, while at the same time people are generating ever growing quantities of wastes. Population and income growth drive up the demand for... Read More about A New Perspective on a Global Circular Economy.

Integrating Remediation and Resource Recovery of Industrial Alkaline Wastes: Case Studies of Steel and Alumina Industry Residues (2019)
Book Chapter
Gomes, H. I., Rogerson, M., Courtney, R., & Mayes, W. M. (2020). Integrating Remediation and Resource Recovery of Industrial Alkaline Wastes: Case Studies of Steel and Alumina Industry Residues. In Resource recovery from wastes: towards a circular economy (168-191). Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1039/9781788016353-00168

With an estimated annual production of two billion tonnes globally, alkaline industrial wastes can be considered both major global waste streams, and materials that offer significant options for potential resource recovery. Alkaline wastes are usuall... Read More about Integrating Remediation and Resource Recovery of Industrial Alkaline Wastes: Case Studies of Steel and Alumina Industry Residues.

Governing Resource Flows in a Circular Economy: Rerouting Materials in an Established Policy Landscape (2019)
Book Chapter
Deutz, P., Baxter, H., & Gibbs, D. (2019). Governing Resource Flows in a Circular Economy: Rerouting Materials in an Established Policy Landscape. In L. E. Macaskie, D. J. Sapsford, & W. M. Mayes (Eds.), Resource Recovery from Wastes: Towards a Circular Economy (375-394). London: Royal Society of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1039/9781788016353-00375

The development of a Circular Economy, whereby resources are kept in circulation for the extraction of maximum value, has captured extensive policy and academic attention. The circularisation of material flows is likely to prove a task for a generati... Read More about Governing Resource Flows in a Circular Economy: Rerouting Materials in an Established Policy Landscape.

Constructed wetlands for steel slag leachate management: Partitioning of arsenic, chromium, and vanadium in waters, sediments, and plants (2019)
Journal Article
Gomes, H., Mayes, W. M., Whitby, P., & Rogerson, M. (2019). Constructed wetlands for steel slag leachate management: Partitioning of arsenic, chromium, and vanadium in waters, sediments, and plants. Journal of environmental management, 243, 30-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.04.127

© 2019 The Authors Constructed wetlands can treat highly alkaline leachate resulting from the weathering of steel slag before reuse (e.g. as aggregate)or during disposal in repositories and legacy sites. This study aimed to assess how metal(loid)s s... Read More about Constructed wetlands for steel slag leachate management: Partitioning of arsenic, chromium, and vanadium in waters, sediments, and plants.