Real Leachate Research Articles

Ethanol-activated granular aerogel as efficient adsorbent for persistent organic pollutants from real leachate and hospital wastewater

Hydrophobic aerogels were used to remove three types of persistent organic pollutants: pharmaceutical drugs (i.e. doxorubicin [DOX], paclitaxel [TAX]), phthalates (diethyl phthalate [DEP]), and hydrophilic rhodamine dye (RhB) from synthetic and real wastewaters, using Lumira granular aerogel from Cabot activated with EtOH (ET-GAG). The hydrophobic silica aerogel was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) and attenuated total reflection–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The pollutants were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)–UV and HPLC–mass spectrometry. The adsorption process was governed by hydrophobic- hydrophobic interactions between the ET-GAG and micropollutants. The adsorption capacity of ET-GAG, examined by batch experiments, for DOX, TAX and DEP were 13.80, 14.28 and 17.54 mg/g respectively. The rate of adsorption to ET-GAG is high in the initial 40 min followed by no change in the rate due to saturation of adsorption sites. ET-GAG was able to completely remove micropollutants from real leachate and hospital wastewater, implying practical applications. Regeneration of the aerogel was studied by solvent extraction. Et-GAG adsorbent demonstrated better removal of toxic chemotherapeutic drugs and phthalates than GAC.

Stable-isotopic analysis and high-throughput pyrosequencing reveal the coupling process and bacteria in microaerobic and hypoxic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification

Microaerobic and hypoxic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification (MAME-D and HYME-D) occur in stabilized landfills with leachate recirculation when biological denitrification is limited by lack of organics. To evaluate nitrate denitrification efficiency and culture MAME-D/HYME-D involved bacteria, a leach bed bioreactor semi-continuous experiment was conducted for 60 days in 5 runs, under nitrate concentrations ranging of 20 mg/L–55 mg/L, wherein 5% sterile leachate was added during runs 4 and 5. Although the HYME-D system demonstrated high denitrification efficiency (74.93%) and nitrate removal rate reached 2.62 mmol N/(L⋅d), the MAME-D system exhibited a denitrification efficiency of almost 100% and nitrate removal rate of 4.37 mmol N/(L⋅d). The addition of sterile leachate increased the nitrate removal rate in both systems, but caused the decrease of methane consumption in HYME-D. A stable isotope batch experiment was carried out to investigate the metabolic products by monitoring the 13CO2 and 15N2O production. The production of organic intermediates such as citrate, lactic acid, acetate, and propionic acid were also observed, which exhibited a higher yield in HYME-D. Variations in the microbial communities were analyzed during the semi-continuous experiment. MAME-D was mainly conducted by the association of type Ⅰ methanotroph Methylomonas and the methylotrophic denitrifier Methylotenera. Methane fermentation processed by Methylomonas under hypoxic conditions produced more complex organic intermediates and increased the diversity of related heterotrophic denitrifiers. The addition of sterile real leachate, resulting in increase of COD/N, influenced the microbial community of HYME-D system significantly.

Adsorption of cadmium by a high-capacity adsorbent composed of silicate-titanate nanotubes embedded in hydrogel chitosan beads

ABSTRACT In this study, we developed a nanoparticle-based mesoporous composite that consisted of silicate-titanate nanotubes (STNTs) supported in hydrogel chitosan beads (STNTs-Ch beads) and was studied for Cd2+ adsorption. By using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy coupled to an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, we could determine that the hollow STNTs were highly dispersed in the walls of the hollow beads. The dispersion was attributed to the effect of pH when the composite was prepared and we observed a non-interaction between STNTs and chitosan. The adsorption studies of Cd2+ showed that the kinetic rate (k 2) increased 3-fold and that the diffusion rate (K d) increased 2-fold after the embedment. Moreover, the maximum capacity of adsorption of STNTs-Ch beads was 2.3 times higher than that of STNTs alone. The treatment of a synthetic Cd2+ solution and a real leachate in continuous mode showed two phases in which it was observed higher removed fractions of transition metal ions (Cd2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Zn2+ and Cu2+) and the post-transition metal ion Pb2+, in comparison to the removed fractions of alkali and alkali-earth metal ions (Ca2+, K+, Mg2+). The composite was successfully reused four times when adsorbing Cd2+, saving three times the needed amounts of TiO2, SiO2 and chitosan for the production of the material. This composite was produced in a simple way and shows the potential for wastewater treatment.

Selective Separation of Uranium and Thorium Using Mesoporous Modified Nano-Alumina from Abu Rusheid Leach Liquor.

This study interested in the synthesis and modification of mesoporous alumina monoliths in order to be used as a highly sensitive separating material for extraction of both U (IV) and Th (IV) ions selectively from real leach liquors. The adsorbent is prepared through functional immobilization of alumina with 2-Amino-1-thia-3,4-diazole. TEM, N2 adsorption/desorption isotherm; TGA, and elemental analysis were carried out to demonstrate the fabricated mesoporous adsorbent. The optimum adsorption conditions such as pH, time, and initial concentrations were investigated to study the adsorption behavior of the modified alumina for U (VI) and Th (IV). The obtained results demonstrate that, the adsorbent allow extremely efficient adsorption for U (IV) and Th (IV) ions at different pHs from the real matrix (Abu Rusheid, Egypt). The adsorption efficiencies of thorium and uranium are 80 and 85 % respectively. The loaded thorium is eluted firstly by 6M HCl then loaded uranium is eluted by 2 M HNO3. In addition, this study proved that in order to completely separation of U (VI) and Th (IV) from sulfuric acid of Abu Rusheid leach liquor it needs about 3 stages of sequential separation using alumina-ATDZ material.

Application of the phycoremediation process for tertiary treatment of landfill leachate and carbon dioxide mitigation

Landfill leachate contains a high concentration of organic and inorganic compounds, toxic heavy metals (THMs), ammonia and bio-refractory compounds. Hence, the remediation of landfill leachate is a challenge for environmental scientists and practitioners. Present work aims to study the application of phycoremediation process as tertiary treatment for pre-treated landfill leachate combined with carbon biosequestration in laboratory-scale photobioreactor (PBR) which can be easily scaled-up for on-site application. Real leachate collected from solid waste dumpsite was initially treated with coagulation and air-stripping process. The pre-treated leachate was innoculated with Chlorella pyrenoidosa and subsequently exposed different CO2 concentration to determine the optimum CO2 concentration for maximum biomass productivity. The results of the optimisation study were applied to a laboratory-scale PBR. The pre-treatment process effectively reduced the biologically inhibitive compounds and colour present in the raw landfill leachate which made it suitable for microalgae cultivation. Maximum biomass productivity of C. pyrenoidosa cultivated in pre-treated landfill leachate was observed when exposed to 10% CO2. The phycoremediation process in PBR effectively consumed 91% of DOC, 86% of TN, 90% of NH4-N and 96% of phosphates from pre-treated landfill leachate and also 0.26 g/L/day of CO2 from the air to produce 2.9 g/L of biomass. Results of the study indicated that using phycoremediation for tertiary treatment of landfill leachate can be a sustainable option as residual nutrients were consumed by microalgae for beneficial biomass production and provided superior quality effluent with minimal environmental hazards.

Selective recovery of indium from iron-rich solutions using an Aliquat 336 iodide supported ionic liquid phase (SILP)

Selective recovery of valuable metals from secondary (waste) sources is essential for better resource efficiency. However, low-grade waste streams typically have complex and variable compositions and low concentrations of valuable metals. Therefore, development of novel technologies, able to deal with these complex and variable waste streams, is necessary. In this work, we present a process for the separation and purification of indium from iron-rich matrix solutions making use of a supported ionic liquid phase (SILP). The SILP used in this study was synthesized by impregnating AmberliteXAD–16N with the iodide form of the quaternary ammonium salt Aliquat336. The SILP was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, density, specific surface area and porosity and it was tested for the selective recovery of indium. Adsorption was preceded by the addition of an excess of iodide anions to the solution, to form indium iodide species, which were extracted to the ionic liquid of the SILP. A high selectivity for indium over iron could be achieved because iron iodide species are not stable in aqueous medium. The reaction kinetics and several adsorption parameters, including anion concentration, adsorbent mass, stripping and reusability of the adsorbent were investigated, using synthetic binary iron-indium solutions containing iron in large excess in comparison with indium, as is typically the case in low-grade ores or industrial process residues. Finally, the developed indium recovery process was validated on a real leachate of goethite residue. A pure indium solution of 49 mg L–1 was obtained with an indium-over-iron mass ratio of 7.9 and a selectivity factor equal to 5400.

Efficient Removal of Lead from Washing Effluent of Lead-contaminated Soil with Garlic Peel

Wastewater produced from the soil washing process contains heavy metals, which limits its reuse for washing. So it is necessary to develop an efficient and economical way to recycle it, and this study presents a biosorption method to realize this goal. A typical soil sample contaminated by lead was taken from the real field near a lead smelting factory, used for the toxic metals extraction with dilute citric acid. A leach liquor was obtained with lead ions at the level of 12.35 mg/L, Cd 1.2 mg/L, Cu 1.5 mg/L, Zn 2.6 mg/L, as well as the coexisting anions such as sulphate, silicate, chloride at the concentration of sveral hundred miligram per liter. The garlic peel was modified by a simple chemical saponification process and used as the biosorbent for toxic metal removal. Firstly, the adsorption behavior of lead ions on the saponified garlic peel was systematically investigated using the synthetic solutions, and then the adsorption mechanisms were explored by detailed experiments combining with the thermodynamic calculation reuslts of the aqueous system of Pb(II)-citrate-H2O. It was found that in artificial solution containing 0.01 mol/L citrate, the maximum adsorption capacity of 261.0 mg/g was reached at pH near 3.0, and also at this very pH value the Pb2+ and Pb(H2Cit)+ were the dominant lead species which are favorable for adsorption due to its easier approaching to the —COO–ligands in the saponified garlic peel partilces via charge attraction, and the appearance of Pb(HCit)0 and Pb(Cit)– at pH above 3.0 inhibits the adsorption. Secondly, the real leach liquor was used for adsorption tests, and twice adsorption under the optimal conditons would decrease the residual concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn to zero. After elution by using 0.1 mol/L nitric acid, the adsorbed metals can be recovered and garlic peel be reused for at least 10 cycles effectively. This study presents a prospective biosorption method for economical and efficient removal of the lead ions from soil washing wastewater with citric acid as the leaching reagent.

Zero-valent iron nanofibers (ZVINFs) immobilized on the surface of reduced ultra-large graphene oxide (rULGO) as a persulfate activator for treatment of landfill leachate

In this research, the performance of zero-valent iron nanofibers/reduced ultra-large graphene oxide (ZVINFs/rULGO) as a persulfate (PS) activator was investigated for the treatment of synthetic and real leachate. Ultra-large graphene oxide (ULGO) was prepared by chemical expansion of natural flake graphite using chromium trioxide and hydrogen peroxide and then oxidation using potassium permanganate. ZVINFs/rULGO was prepared by adding sodium borohydride as a reducing agent to a solution containing Fe(II) ions and ULGO. The material characterization was performed by XRD, SEM, EDS, and BET analysis. The effects of the pH, ZVINFs/rULGO dosage, PS/COD ratio, reaction time, and temperature on the removal of COD and NH3 were evaluated to find the optimum operational conditions (i.e., pH 3, ZVINFs/rULGO dosage: 1.6 g L−1, PS/COD: 3, and reaction time: 45 min). Under the optimum conditions, the removal efficiencies of COD and NH3 were 93.64 and 84.8%, respectively. The presence of ZVINFs/rULGO led to 3.8 and 4.2 times decrease in the activation energies of COD and NH3, respectively. Finally, the ZVINFs/rULGO-PS system was applied for removal of COD and NH3 in real leachate obtained from the Aradkouh’s landfill located in Tehran, Iran. The COD and NH3 removal efficiencies for the fresh leachate were 80.87 and 72.38%, respectively, and the biodegradability (BOD5/COD) of the real leachate enhanced from 0.25 to 0.52, respectively.

Activation of Persulfate Using an Industrial Iron-Rich Sludge as an Efficient Nanocatalyst for Landfill Leachate Treatment

In this research, the performance of nanomaterials obtained from the converter sludge (CS) of Esfahan Steel Company, Iran was investigated for the activation of persulfate (PS). The experiments were conducted on real and synthetic leachates. CS showed high catalytic activity for removal of chemical oxygen demand COD and NH3 because of its high iron oxide content. The effects of pH, CS dosage, and PS/COD ratio, temperature, and reaction time on the removal of COD and NH3 were evaluated to optimize operational conditions (pH 2, CS dosage: 1.2 g L−1, PS/COD: 4, and reaction time: 60 min). Maximum COD and NH3 removal efficiencies were 73.56 and 63.87%, respectively. Finally, the optimized process was applied for treatment of a real leachate sample. Although the treated leachate was not suitable to discharge into the environment, an increase in the 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and biodegradability (BOD5/COD) of leachate after treatment indicated that the effluent can be biologically treated. As a consequence, it can be combined with sewage or can be returned to the landfill.

REMOVAL OF REFRACTORY COMPOUNDS FROM LANDFILL LEACHATE BY USING NANOFILTRATION

Landfill leachate is a serious problem during treatment of municipal solid waste using landfill method. Less attention has been paid for the treatment of this leachate while this leachate is usually highly polluted. This study investigated the performances of nanofiltration membrane for treatment of landfill leachate (from Semarang, Indonesia). Landfill leachate was treated using NF99 nanofiltration membrane (pore size 200 Da). Synthetic leachate was used in this research which follows the characteristics of real leachate. Microfiltration (MF) membrane was used as a pretreatment before Nanofiltration (NF). The effect of pressure on membrane performance was observed. The membrane performance was examined for permeate flux and membrane rejection for TSS, TDS, and COD then compared to the effluent quality of existing leachate treatment. The rejection of COD, TSS and TDS were 96, 100 and 62%, respectively. The results suggest that the effluent had much better quality than the existing installation leachate treatment.

Recovery of gold from mining solutions using Au(III)-imprinted polymeric resins with pyridine, ethylenediamine and aminothiophosphate functionalities

ABSTRACTNew Au(III)-ion-imprinted polymers (Au(III)-IIPs) with pyridine (4-VP), ethylenediamine (EDA) or aminothiophosphate (ADT) functionalities were prepared and employed in recovering Au(III) ions from aqueous media. These polymers demonstrated good adsorption capability for Au(III) ions owing to their faster kinetics adsorption, higher capacity and good recyclability. The Au(III) ions kinetic data fitted well to pseudo-second-order rate equation. The equilibrium data were best described by the Langmuir isotherm, with the maximum adsorption capacity of 418.41, 393.70 and 189.75 mg g–1 for IIPs with 4-VP, EDA and ADT, respectively. The IIPs displayed excellent recognition towards Au(III) in its binary systems with Pb(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Mn(II) and Fe(III), Pt(IV) and Pd(II). The suitability of the developed IIPs for selective recovery of Au(III) in real leach liquor samples and acid mine drainage spiked with standards was successfully demonstrated.

Treatment of leachates containing cobalt by adsorption on Spirulina sp. and activated charcoal

The search for efficient treatments for solid or liquid wastes containing heavy metals derived from new technologies, such as, smartphones and cell phones has increased in recent years. In this work, cobalt (Co(II)) was leached from spent lithium batteries (LIB’s) and the leachate was treated by adsorption using Spirulina sp. and activated charcoal, aiming the Co(II) recovery. For both adsorbents, the study was firstly performed with synthetic solutions and after, realized with real leachates from LIB’s. The study using synthetic solutions revealed that the adsorption was favored at pH of 6.0 for both adsorbents. Langmuir and Freundlich models were adequate to represent the adsorption equilibrium. The adsorption kinetic curves were well represented by the pseudo-second order model. The maximum adsorption capacities were 95.9 mg g−1 and 50.3 mg g−1 for Spirulina and activated charcoal, respectively. The study with real leachates revealed that 82% of Co(II) was recovered using Spirulina and 72% was recovered using activated charcoal. From these findings it is possible affirm that Spirulina is a renewable green alternative to recovery Co(II) from real leachates.

A new study on Uranium (VI) stripping from loaded Alamine 336 using some of alkaline solutions

Stripping of U (VI) from loaded Alamine 336 by synthetic sulphuric acid solution and real leach liquor solution was investigated by employing various stripping agents comparing (NH4)2CO3, NH4Cl and Na2CO3 in the concentration range of 0.25–2.00 mol/L and phase ratio of 0.5–5.0. To study the effect of the operating parameters and to find optimum conditions, response surface methodology was employed. U (VI) stripping efficiency under the optimum conditions (0.8, 0.6 and 0.72 mol/L at the stripping concentrations as well as 1.81, 1.16 and 1.16 values for organic/aqueous phases ratio) equaled 67.32, 42.18 and 54.13% of (NH4)2CO3, NH4Cl and Na2CO3 stripping efficiencies, respectively.

Separation of Pt(IV), Rh(III) and Fe(III) in acid chloride leach solutions of glass scraps by solvent extraction with various extractants

Solvent extraction experiments were conducted to recover pure Pt(IV) and Rh(III) from the chloride leach liquor of glass industry scraps containing a small amount of Fe(III) using Alamine 336, TOPO, TBP and Cyanex 923. The Pt(IV) and Fe(III) were selectively extracted by Cyanex 923 leaving Rh(III) in the raffinate, while only Fe(III) was extracted by TBP. The Pt(IV) in the loaded Cyanex 923 phase was first selectively stripped over Fe(III) by NaSCN and then the remaining Fe(III) was stripped by HCl solution. The Fe(III) in the loaded TBP phase was easily stripped by dilute HCl solution. The McCabe-Thiele diagrams for the extraction of Pt(IV) by Cyanex 923 and of Fe(III) by TBP were constructed. Based on the obtained results, a flowsheet for the separation of three metals from the real leaching solution of glass industry scraps was proposed.

Iron, aluminium and chromium co-removal from atmospheric nickel laterite leach solutions

Atmospheric leaching (AL) of low-grade nickel laterite ores often produces leach liquor containing significant amounts of trivalent iron, aluminium and chromium ions. These impurities are normally removed by increasing the leach liquor pH to precipitate these metals before the recovery of nickel, cobalt and other metal values. This paper documents an investigation of the removal of iron, aluminium and chromium from both synthetic and real nickel laterite AL leach solutions using single- and multi-stage precipitation methods. Single-stage precipitation experiments performed using synthetic leach solutions containing Fe(III) + Ni(II) + Al(III), Fe(III) + Ni(II) + Cr(III), and Fe(III) + Ni(II) + Al(III) + Cr(III) showed that greater losses of nickel to solids occurred in the presence of aluminium and chromium. Increasing the pH value of the solution and the precipitation temperature favoured the removal of iron, aluminium and chromium, but at a cost of greater nickel losses. However, by carefully controlling pH and temperature using a multi-stage precipitation process, the iron, aluminium and chromium can be rejected effectively by precipitation with minimal nickel loss and desirable sludge properties. The optimum conditions for a multi-stage precipitation process were found to be pH 3.0 and 55 °C in the first stage and pH 3.0 and 85 °C in the second stage. Using this approach, as much as 95% iron and chromium together with more than 80% aluminium can be removed; the level of nickel loss to the solid can be reduced to below 1%. The sludge showed a fast settling rate of 5.05 m/h following the addition of a cationic flocculant. Similar satisfactory results were also obtained when performing this multi-stage precipitation procedure with real leach solutions.

Inherent humic substance promotes microbial denitrification of landfill leachate via shifting bacterial community, improving enzyme activity and up-regulating gene

Microbial denitrification is the main pathway for nitrogen removal of landfill leachate. Although humic substances (HSs) have been reported in landfill leachate, the effects of HS on denitrification process of activated sludge for leachate treatment are still unknown. In this study, we adopted SAHA as the model HS to study the effects of HS on the denitrification of landfill leachate. After long-term operation at 10 mg/L of Shanghai Aladdin Humic Acid (SAHA), the final nitrate concentration and nitrite accumulation were much lower than the control (5.2 versus 96.2 mg/L; 0.5 versus 34.7 mg/L), and the final N2O emission was 13.1% of the control. The mechanistic study unveiled that SAHA substantially changed the activated sludge community structure and resulted in the dominance of Thauera after long-term exposure to SAHA. Thauera could be able to utilize HSs as electron shuttle to improve denitrificattion performance, especially for nitrite reduction. Moreover, SAHA significantly upregulated the gene expressions and catalytic activities of the key enzymes related to denitrification, the reducing power (NADH) generation, and the electron transport system activity, which accelerated nitrogen oxide reduction. The positive effects of HS on denitrification performance were confirmed by the addition of SAHA into real leachate.

A novel biorefinery: Biorecovery of precious metals from spent automotive catalyst leachates into new catalysts effective in metal reduction and in the hydrogenation of 2-pentyne

With the aim to recover precious metals (PMs) from spent automotive catalyst leachates into new catalysts, cells of Escherichia coli first reduced Pd(II) or Pt(IV) physiologically to nanoparticulate cell-bound Pd(0) and Pt(0). Metallised cells were then used as chemical catalysts for the reductive recovery of precious metals from model solutions and from aqua regia leachates of crushed spent automotive catalyst. Metal removal, which was slower from real leachate due to interference by other contaminants, was complete after 60h. Biofabricated PM catalyst from waste reduced 0.5mM Cr(VI) to a similar extent to commercial 5% Pd catalyst but at ∼half the rate. The hydrogenation of 2-pentyne was examined using commercial Pd on Al2O3 catalyst and biofabricated Pd/Pt catalyst, the latter showing more than 3-fold enhanced selectivity towards the desired cis-pentene product. Hence, biorefined PMs offer a clean route to waste treatment and effective neo-catalyst biomanufacture.

Microwave-Supported Leaching of Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Slag by Ammonium Salts

The effect of microwave-supported leaching of electric arc furnace (EAF) slag by ammonium salts was investigated to improve calcium leaching ratio for CO2 mineral sequestration process. The results show that the calcium leaching ratio from EAF slag at the constant temperature in the microwave field increases about 10% than that under the water bath at the same leaching time. The greater the microwave power, the higher the impact of calcium leaching rate, which proves that microwave treatment can improve the leaching ratio of calcium. The rapid calcium leaching step (up to 5 min) is possibly due to the easy reaction of calcium silicate, while the slower calcium leaching step (after 5 min) is owing to the difficult reaction of calcium ferroaluminates for the hydrolysis of iron and aluminum. The leaching behaviors of magnesium and calcium ions affected by different leaching parameters are similar and the concentration of aluminum, iron and phosphorus can be neglected. Calcium ion is probably not precipitated in the real leaching solution from steel slag by ammonium chloride solution as its concentration is less than 0.32 mol/L. However, the concentration of magnesium ion starts to drop sharply when the pH value is higher than 10 and it has precipitated completely at pH value of 11.6.

Influence of iron species on integrated microbial fuel cell and electro-Fenton process treating landfill leachate

MFC-based bioelectro-Fenton (BEF) system was examined in duplicate to deal with recalcitrant organics of mature landfill leachate pre-treated with partial nitritation-anammox process. The system performance was evaluated at various iron species (iron (II) sulfate and iron (III) chloride) and iron dosages (150, 300 and 500mgL−1) as Fenton catalyst. A simultaneous anolyte and catholyte COD removal efficiency of 71–76% and 77–81% occurred respectively, having glucose substrate (anolyte) and leachate (catholyte). Upon switching the system to 80% and then 100% real leachate as anolyte substrate affected the COD removal efficiency and CE, but no significant effect was noticed in terms of current density. A maximum current density of 1.7Am−2 was obtained throughout the experiment. Iron concentration of 300mgL−1 proved to be optimum dose; whereas, iron (II) catalyst showed slightly better efficiency than iron (III). The results demonstrated the potential of an MFC based BEF oxidation as sustainable and efficient route for simultaneous anodic and cathodic pollutant removal coupled with power production.

Characterization and Leaching of Neodymium Magnet Waste and Solvent Extraction of the Rare-Earth Elements Using TODGA

The rare-earth elements (REEs) are considered as some of the most critical elements in the EU and the USA today. E-scrap, such as end-of-life neodymium magnets, could be a viable secondary source for the recovery of these elements. Neodymium magnets (NdFeB) consist of considerable amounts of Nd, Dy, Pr, and some other REEs, depending on the specific application. Apart from REEs, neodymium magnets are made up of around 60% iron, which can pose a challenge in their recycling. For example, iron can be dissolved along with other elements during leaching or co-extracted during solvent extraction. In this work, extraction of REEs with TODGA (tetraoctyl-diglycolamide) from a real leachate, obtained by neodymium magnet powder dissolution in nitric acid, was studied. The goal was to selectively extract the REEs from other elements in the solution. TODGA was used as the extracting agent due to its selective extraction properties for REEs and other f-block elements. The influence of the diluent on the overall extraction and the selectivity of the extraction was studied in order to determine application feasibility of future processes. To this end, experiments using Solvent 70 (hydrocarbons C11–C14, ≤0.5 wt% aromatics), hexane, toluene, cyclohexanone and 1-octanol as the diluents were performed. TODGA has shown good selectivity between REEs and other elements in solution under almost all conditions, reaching the highest distribution ratios of REEs in the aliphatic diluents, while the distribution ratios of other non-REEs reach a mere value of 0.1. An exception was cyclohexanone, which has the ability to extract small amounts of ions itself. The highest separation factors between Dy and the light REEs (Nd and Pr) were observed with a 0.01 M solution of TODGA in Solvent 70. REEs, as group, were extracted with 0.1 M solutions of TODGA in all diluents except for cyclohexanone, which led to extraction of Al and B at amounts greater than 10%. Stripping with over 98% efficiency was achieved using MQ water in one step.