Initial studies of the recovery of Cu from MSWI fly ash leachates using solvent extraction

Large volumes of ash from combustion of municipal solid waste are produced and most of it is landfilled. As this type of ash contains significant amounts of metal compounds the landfilling strategy is not optimal when considered from a resource conservation perspective. A better situation would be created if metals were recovered from the ash. In the present study leaching and solvent extraction was applied for release and separation of copper from municipal solid waste combustion fly ashes. The results showed promising results with Cu yields of 50-95%. The yield was heavily dependent on the efficiency of the initial leaching of Cu from the ash.