TY - JOUR
T1 - Re-using bauxite residues
T2 - benefits beyond (critical raw) material recovery
AU - Ujaczki, Éva
AU - Feigl, Viktória
AU - Molnár, Mónika
AU - Cusack, Patricia
AU - Curtin, Teresa
AU - Courtney, Ronan
AU - O'Donoghue, Lisa
AU - Davris, Panagiotis
AU - Hugi, Christoph
AU - Evangelou, Michael W.H.
AU - Balomenos, Efthymios
AU - Lenz, Markus
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
PY - 2018/9
Y1 - 2018/9
N2 - Since the world economy has been confronted with an increasing risk of supply shortages of critical raw materials (CRMs), there has been a major interest in identifying alternative secondary sources of CRMs. Bauxite residues from alumina production are available at a multi-million tonnes scale worldwide. So far, attempts have been made to find alternative re-use applications for bauxite residues, for instance in cement / pig iron production. However, bauxite residues also constitute an untapped secondary source of CRMs. Depending on their geological origin and processing protocol, bauxite residues can contain considerable amounts of valuable elements. The obvious primary consideration for CRM recovery from such residues is the economic value of the materials contained. However, there are further benefits from re-use of bauxite residues in general, and from CRM recovery in particular. These go beyond monetary values (e.g. reduced investment / operational costs resulting from savings in disposal). For instance, benefits for the environment and health can be achieved by abatement of tailing storage as well as by reduction of emissions from conventional primary mining. Whereas certain tools (e.g. life-cycle analysis) can be used to quantify the latter, other benefits (in particular sustained social and technological development) are harder to quantify. This review evaluates strategies of bauxite residue re-use / recycling and identifies associated benefits beyond elemental recovery. Furthermore, methodologies to translate risks and benefits into quantifiable data are discussed. Ultimately, such quantitative data are a prerequisite for facilitating decision-making regarding bauxite residue re-use / recycling and a stepping stone towards developing a zero-waste alumina production process.
AB - Since the world economy has been confronted with an increasing risk of supply shortages of critical raw materials (CRMs), there has been a major interest in identifying alternative secondary sources of CRMs. Bauxite residues from alumina production are available at a multi-million tonnes scale worldwide. So far, attempts have been made to find alternative re-use applications for bauxite residues, for instance in cement / pig iron production. However, bauxite residues also constitute an untapped secondary source of CRMs. Depending on their geological origin and processing protocol, bauxite residues can contain considerable amounts of valuable elements. The obvious primary consideration for CRM recovery from such residues is the economic value of the materials contained. However, there are further benefits from re-use of bauxite residues in general, and from CRM recovery in particular. These go beyond monetary values (e.g. reduced investment / operational costs resulting from savings in disposal). For instance, benefits for the environment and health can be achieved by abatement of tailing storage as well as by reduction of emissions from conventional primary mining. Whereas certain tools (e.g. life-cycle analysis) can be used to quantify the latter, other benefits (in particular sustained social and technological development) are harder to quantify. This review evaluates strategies of bauxite residue re-use / recycling and identifies associated benefits beyond elemental recovery. Furthermore, methodologies to translate risks and benefits into quantifiable data are discussed. Ultimately, such quantitative data are a prerequisite for facilitating decision-making regarding bauxite residue re-use / recycling and a stepping stone towards developing a zero-waste alumina production process.
KW - hydrometallurgy
KW - life-cycle assessment (LCA)
KW - metals
KW - recovery
KW - sustainable processing
KW - waste treatment and waste minimization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85051238381&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/jctb.5687
DO - 10.1002/jctb.5687
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85051238381
SN - 0268-2575
VL - 93
SP - 2498
EP - 2510
JO - Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology
JF - Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology
IS - 9
ER -