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Agromining from Secondary Resources: Recovery of Nickel and Other Valuable Elements from Waste Materials

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Agromining: Farming for Metals

Part of the book series: Mineral Resource Reviews ((MIRERE))

Abstract

Industrial activities produce a variety of metal-rich waste, which are often classified as hazardous due to high concentrations of metals such as Ni, Zn, Cu, Cr, Pb and Cd. Metals recycling from waste materials is still limited, especially from those waste types characterized by complex matrices and multi-metal contamination, with large amounts of metal-rich waste materials being discharged into the environment. Although several pathways of metal recovery from waste have been developed, landfilling often remains the most convenient alternative in terms of costs. In recent years, a new approach to metals recycling from waste materials has been investigated: agromining with hyperaccumulator plants on waste-derived substrates. Hyperaccumulator plants can isolate specific metals from multi-metal waste matrices and bioconcentrate target metals in their biomass. Specific characteristics of industrial waste might limit plant establishment and uptake of target metals; thus, the addition of amendments is required prior to plant cultivations as well as the construction of waste-derived artificial substrates. Research conducted to date has shown limited effectiveness of agromining when applied on certain metal-rich industrial waste materials, while promising results were obtained from other types of waste. Upscaling trials are currently underway to demonstrate the applicability of waste agromining for metals recycling within waste generation industrial facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, Institute of Soil Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria

    Alice Tognacchini & Markus Puschenreiter

  2. Aperam Isbergues—Research Center, Isbergues, France

    Aurelien Buteri

  3. ENSAIA, Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, Microhumus, Université de Lorraine, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Gaylord Erwan Machinet

  4. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, UMR 1120, Université de Lorraine-INRAE, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Jean Louis Morel

  5. Econick, Nancy Cedex, France

    Ramez F. Saad

  6. Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés, UMR 7274, Université de Lorraine—CNRS, Nancy, France

    Marie-Odile Simonnot

Authors
  1. Alice Tognacchini
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  2. Aurelien Buteri
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  3. Gaylord Erwan Machinet
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  4. Jean Louis Morel
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  5. Markus Puschenreiter
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  6. Ramez F. Saad
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  7. Marie-Odile Simonnot
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Correspondence to Alice Tognacchini .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Antony van der Ent

  2. School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Alan J.M. Baker

  3. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, Université de Lorraine, INRAE, Nancy, France

    Guillaume Echevarria

  4. Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés, Université de Lorraine, CNRS, Nancy, France

    Marie-Odile Simonnot

  5. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, Université de Lorraine, INRAE, Nancy, France

    Jean Louis Morel

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Tognacchini, A. et al. (2021). Agromining from Secondary Resources: Recovery of Nickel and Other Valuable Elements from Waste Materials. In: van der Ent, A., Baker, A.J., Echevarria, G., Simonnot, MO., Morel, J.L. (eds) Agromining: Farming for Metals. Mineral Resource Reviews. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58904-2_14

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