United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Industrial Environmental Research
Laboratory 's
Cincinnati OH 45268 '"«v
Research and Development
EPA-600/S2-83-114 July 1984
&ER& Project Summary
Recovery, Reuse, and
Recycle of Industrial Waste
Kenneth E. Noll, Charles N. Haas, Carol^Jchmidt, and Prasad Kodukula
EPA funded a study of alternatives to
conventional pollution control that in-
volves recycle, recovery, and reuse
(MRI, 1980). Twenty-five case reports
obtained from the pollution control
literature for the 1974-1979 period are
summarized. The cases come from 11
industries, domestic as well as foreign
operations, and from small as well as
large companies and one public sanitary
district. A roughly equal number of
cases deal with predominantly water-
and with predominantly air-related
cases. Half the cases involve process
modification; the rest involve other
types of optimization approaches. Most
of the pollution control by process
change take place in the process-
intensive industries, as might be ex-
pected—chemicals, paper, petroleum,
metals, and food.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Industrial Environmental He-
search Laboratory, Cincinnati. OH. to
announce key findings of the research
project that is fully documented in a
separate report of the same title (see
Project Report ordering information at
back).
Introduction
Increased emphasis has been placed
on studies of the chemistry, biological
effects, treatment, fate, and control of
industrial byproduct pollutants. Discovery
of the presence of such materials at high
concentrations, coupled with the recogni-
tion of their environmental impacts and
potential health hazards, has led to major
legislative efforts which would limit their
entrance into the environment. In addi-
tion, there is an increased interest to
ensure the continued viability of domestic
minerals (which constitute most of the
raw materialsfor various industrial opera-
tions), minerals economy, and the main-
tenance of an adequate mineral base. The
environmental regulations prohibiting the
discharge of major pollutants from indus-
trial activities, coupled with the need for
conservation of raw materials has led to
consideration of the recycle, recovery,
and reuse of waste products. The recycle,
recovery, and reuse alternative is doubly
advantageous since it conserves a mate-
rials supply which is beginning to be
recognized as finite, while reducing the
quantity of hazardous pollutants dis-
charged into the environment.
The choice between recycle, recovery,
and reuse of valuable materials from
waste and disposal of waste seems to
depend mainly on two factors: economics
and technology. Economics is probably
the most important factor that limits the
recycle, recovery, and reuse of industrial
byproducts. The high cost of recovering
low-value materials and the consequent
relative unprofitability seem to prevent
several industries from adoption of recycle
or recovery techniques for waste by-
products. The high cost of recycle or
recovery techniques, however, can prob-
ably be reduced by improving the present-
day technology. Any such attempts would
require the identification of technological
limitations associated with the recycle
and recovery techniques. So, it is neces-
sary to collect, review, and systematically
organize and evaluate information per-
taining to the state-of-the-art for recycle,
reuse, and recovery of byproduct pollu-
tants; the efficiency, energy, and re-
sources associated with these processes;
and the future needs and demands for
reduction, elimination, or reuse of the
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unwanted byproducts. The execution of
these processes should result in a col-
lection of information which defines the
limiting technology and the energy and
economic constraints associated with
various techniques and processes, as
well as their potential for future develop-
ment and expansion as valuable waste
elimination methods. Such information
would be of use to focus future develop-
ments in the area of recycle, recovery,
and reuse technology aimed at the elim-
ination of industrial byproduct waste.
Objectives
The major goal of the study was to
produce a final document which will prove
useful for planning future efforts aimed at
the elimination of industrial wastes
through the application of recycle, re-
covery, and reuse technology. This objec-
tive was accomplished by collecting,
reviewing, and evaluating information
pertaining to the state-of-the-art for
recycle, recovery, and reuse of byproduct
pollutants using different industrial waste
treatment processes. From this informa-
tion, conclusions were made regarding
the technological limitations associated
with recycle, recovery, and reuse of
industrial pollutants.
This study is not meant to provide
detailed technical information on the
treatment process itself nor elaborate
discussions on the various applications of
the processes. It does, however, provide
an overview of the applications of the
various processes to the recovery of
contaminants which may subsequently
be recycled or reused.
Resource Recovery from
Hazardous Waste
The generation of increasing amounts
of hazardous and toxic wastes associated
with the nation's rapid industrial expan-
sion represents a problem of increasing
public concern. The Environmental Pro-
tection Agency recently developed statis-
tics indicating that 10-15% of the 344
million metric tons of wet industrial
wastes that are produced each year can
be classified as being hazardous.
Resource recovery is attractive both for
economic and environmental reasons.
Recovery of waste energy or material
value is becoming an increasingly viable
option, as ultimate disposal options be-
come more strictly regulated and expen-
sive. The market for recovery has begun
to develop an industry, including cen-
tralized commercial processing and re-
covery facilities, and industrial waste
exchanges.
In the final report, before specific
processes and alternatives for resource
recovery were discussed, it was necessary
to develop broad strategies for the re-
covery of economic value from hazardous
waste processing. In general, there are
four broad paths whereby recovery of
some value from waste may occur:
— Direct recycle for primary (generator)
use.
— Use by a second industry as a raw
material
— Energy recovery.
— Utilization in pollution control sys-
tems.
A given hazardous waste stream may be a
potential candidate for recovery by more
than one of the above routes; however
consideration of the benefits to be derived
will provide guidance in determining
needed pretreatment methods to be used.
Molecular Separation
The molecular separation processes
included in this chapter of the final report
are:
1. Reverse Osmosis.
2. Ion Exchange.
3. Ultrafiltration.
Ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis are
commonly referred to as membrane pro-
cesses. A membrane is defined as a
phase which acts as a barrier to flow of
molecular or ionic species between other
phases that it separates. On the other
hand, ion exchange can be considered a
sorption process. In ion exchange, there
is a reversible interchange of ions be-
tween a liquid and solid (the transfer of
ions between phases occurs at the solid
surface) where there are no permanent
changes in the structure of the solid.
Chemical Modifications
The final report examines several chem-
ical treatment processes currently being
used to recover heavy metals from indus-
trial sludges and wastewaters. The pro-
cesses discussed are:
1. Cementation
2. Precipitation
3. Catalytic Hydrogenation
4. Reduction
For each of the above listed processes,
the following areas are discussed:
1. Process Description
2. Recycle, Recovery, Reuse, and
Applications
3. Statement of Limiting Technology.
Phase Transition
Processes of heat transfer accompanied
by phase changes are more complex than
simple heat exchange between fluids. A
phase change involves the addition or
subtraction of considerable quantities of
thermal energy at constant or nearly
constant temperature. The final report
discusses four processes which rely on
one (or several) constituents of a waste-
stream to undergo a phase change in
order to separate it (and in many cases
these constituents are recycled and re-
used) from the main fluid stream. The
processes examined include:
1. Condensation
2. Distillation
3. Evaporation
4. Refrigeration
Condensation, evaporation, and refrig-
eration are processes used primarily to
separate the constituents of a waste-
stream. Once separated, these constitu-
ents can be further purified and either
recycled back into the process or sold.
Evaporation, on the other hand, is basical-
ly used to concentrate a non-volatile
solute by vaporizing the volatile solvent.
The solvent can then be condensed,
purified and recycled into the process for
further use. The concentrate (non-volatile
solute and remaining solvent) can also be
recycled or disposed of at this point.
Physical Dispersion and
Separation
The final report examines the recycle,
reuse, and recovery applications of var-
ious physical dispersion and separation
processes. The processes included are:
1. Filtration of Liquids
2. Filtration of Gases
3. Flotation
4. Liquid-Liquid Extraction
Sorption
Presently, many chemical process
materials and biological substances occur
as mixtures of different components in
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the gas, liquid or solid phase. To remove
one or more of these components from its
original phase, another phase must be
contacted.
The term sorption includes both adsorp-
tion and absorption and refers to a process
in which a solute(s) (mixture component)
moves from one phase and is accumulated
in another. Adsorption can occur between
a liquid-liquid, gas-liquid, or liquid-solid
interface. In absorption, the two phases
are brought into contact such that the
mixture components can diffuse from one
phase to another; during the contact of
the two phases, the components of the
original mixture redistribute themselves
between the phases. In the final report,
the following processes are discussed:
1. Adsorption
2. Adsorption of Inorganic and
Organics
3. Adsorption of Gases
Kenneth £. Noll. Charles N. Haas, Carol Schmidt, and Prasad Kodukula are with
the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL 60616.
William A. Cawlay is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Recovery, Reuse, and Recycle of Industrial Waste,"
(Order No. PB 84-127 141; Cost: $19.00. subject to change) will be available
only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285. Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, OH 45268
if U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE; 1984 — 759-015/7745
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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
uoN
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