Abstract
One of today’s major world challenges is the accumulation and the storage of tens of millions of tons per year of final materials resulting from the incineration of domestic and industrial waste. This raises the question of the recycling of these “raw materials”, while making allowance for environmental, economic, social and public health aspects. Our strategy targets the incorporation of waste incineration by-products in a totally circular economy. We propose an innovative process combining templated sol–gel growth of an inorganic or hybrid silica-based network with a solubilized fraction of bottom ash coming from the combustion of industrial and household wastes. The resulting materials engineered via aerosol processing demonstrate maximum adsorption capacity of model pollutant compounds (1-2 dichlorobenzene) competitive with activated carbons currently used in modern incineration plants. We believe that they have the potential to replace conventional activated carbon commonly used in incineration plants, enabling the first step of the long road of recycling final waste.Graphical abstract
Highlights
The management of solid waste is a critical issue which involves and impacts all the persons living on earth
Each year, 2.01 billion tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) are generated and it is expected that global waste will reach 3.40 billion tons by 2050 [1]
This article addresses a global disruptive process aiming at transforming incineration by-product into recoverable raw materials
Summary
The management of solid waste is a critical issue which involves and impacts all the persons living on earth. Bottom ash may contain amounts of hazardous compounds which could, after leaching processes due to rainwater, contaminate soils, water tables, and groundwater leading to flora and fauna pollution [4] Their use as raw materials in construction applications has been subjected to new regulatory limitations leading to the development of new treatments aiming to reduce their potential toxicity [10]. Compared to mining, extraction of raw minerals from incinerator waste requires less energy, water, transportation, materials and land and present a lower impact on the environment (less pollution with modern incineration plants) [5] Another advantage of recycling incinerator waste involves economic aspects with a better control of resource production. They are intended to replace activated carbon commonly used in incineration plants after pilot tests at larger scale
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