Hydrometallurgy and phytomanagement approaches for steel slag management (HYPASS)

The steel slags produced and the available stocks are considerable. Managing these co-products requires finding a solution for their future that is satisfactory from both an environmental and economic point of view. The research aims to propose an integrated, sustainable and economically rational solution to this problem. It includes the development of physical and hydrometallurgical processes for the basic recovery of metals and metal oxides and the evaluation of phytostabilisation methodologies, already tested on steel slags, for secondary residues resulting from these treatments. The integrated solution concept will also be based on the control of environmental impacts and/or the study of sustainable eco-compatibility. In addition, HYPASS plans to list and map former slag heaps, carry out “Life-Cycle Analyses” (LCA) for the various recovery methods and build a “Decision-Support Tool” (DST) to facilitate the identification of the best treatment methods, both from an economic and environmental point of view.