From waste to resource: A review on biological and physicochemical metal remediation and recovery in the light of the circular economy

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F46747885%3A24620%2F25%3A00014440" target="_blank" >RIV/46747885:24620/25:00014440 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389425029103#ack0005" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389425029103#ack0005</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139991" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139991</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

From waste to resource: A review on biological and physicochemical metal remediation and recovery in the light of the circular economy

Original language description

Remediating metal-contaminated sites, particularly those affected by critical material extraction and abandoned mines, poses significant environmental and health challenges. This review examines current knowledge on the various physicochemical and biological approaches used to treat metal-containing waste mixtures, remove toxic metals, and recover critical materials within the framework of the circular economy. Physicochemical techniques play a crucial role in waste decontamination, while bioremediation and bioleaching methods may offer environmentally sustainable alternatives for mitigating metal pollution. Microbial strategies are particularly advantageous due to their high specificity and effectiveness even at low contaminant concentrations. Microorganisms can actively transform, immobilize, or remove toxic metals from the environment, facilitating site restoration with minimal ecological damage. Integrating both biological and physicochemical treatments significantly improves remediation performance, paving the way for a more holistic and sustainable solution. In particular, “treatment train” or sequential approaches combine multiple remediation methods to enhance efficiency while enabling recovery and reuse of valuable metals. Successfully implementing these strategies requires optimizing treatment conditions by selecting suitable microbial communities and plants, and incorporating green remediation practices into large-scale applications. This review emphasizes the need for more comprehensive and in-depth studies to fill significant knowledge gaps related to increasing the mechanical stability and viability of cells immobilized for example in hydrogels for metal bioremediation, and the design of cost-effective and sustainable techniques for the separation of different metals from metal-containing waste mixtures prior to their recovery as nanoparticles or in other economically valuable forms.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10511 - Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)

Project

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Continuities

R - Projekt Ramcoveho programu EK

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Hazardous Materials>

ISSN

0304-3894

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

498

Issue of the periodical within the volume

OCT 15

Country of publishing house

NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Number of pages

22

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

001588645300001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105017725833