Working group "Environmental Remediation and Mineral Waste"

The working group "material-oriented waste technology" deals with mineral by-products and wastes (ashes, slags, C&D waste, mineral wool, manganese salts), polymers (lightweight packaging, multilayer foils, bio-based plastics), compound materials (photovoltaic modules), contaminated soil and groundwater, landfills and their leachates as well as industrial waste waters. 

Research fields of the working group "Environmental Remediation and Mineral Waste"

The focus is on characterization, mobilization and fixation of valuable and problematic constituents using microscopic, spectroscopic, thermo- and hydrochemical metthods as well as thermodynamic models. The investigated constiuents range from the atomic scale (binding of individual elements) via the phase scale (mineralogical composition) to the particle scale (separation of individual particles using sensor-based sorting, disintegration of compound materials).

Aim of this research is to lay the scientific-technological foundations for a high value recycling of these waste streams by producing concentrates of valuable materials of high purity and by removing and/or immobilizing contaminants.

Ongoing projects of the WG

• CO₂-reduced binding agents through thermochemical conversion of mineral wool waste combinations
  Short title: BitKOIN // Project start: 2023
  
  
• Innovationen for the thermally enhanced soil vapour extraction
  Short title: InnoBLA // Project start: 2020
  
  
• Mineralogy and leachability of steel slags 2.0
  Short title: MiLeSlag 2.0 // Project start: 2019
  
  
• Simultaneous recovery of nutrients (NH4- & PO43-) from biogenic raw and waste water
  Short title: ReNox 2.0 // Project start: 2018
  
  

Other contract research projects (commissioned directly by companies, so we cannot list them here)

Organization of the waste management and recycling conference Recy & DepoTech

Completed projects of the WG (in the laste 2 years)

• Recycling of synthetic mineral fibers
  Short title: RecyMin // Project period: 2018 - 2023
  
  
• Survey of recycling options for manganese salt waste from the pharmaceutical industry
  Short title: RecyMang // Project period: 2020 - 2021
  
  
• EU training network for resource recovery through enhanced landfill mining
  Short title: NEW-MINE // Project period: 2015 - 2021
  
  
• Hydro- and pyrometallurgical recycling of residue combinations
  Short title: HYDRA // Project period: 2017 - 2020
  
  
• Recovery of metals 2.0
  Short title: Recomet 2.0 // Project period: 2016 - 2020
  
  
• Mineralogy and leachability of steel slags
  Short title: MiLeSlag // Project period: 2016 - 2019
  
  
• Destruction of organic pollutants in water using innovative process combinations
  Short title: ZEROS // Project period: 2016 - 2019
  
  
• Enhanced in-situ remediation using combined technologies
  Short title: LISA // Project period: 2015 - 2019

Other contract research projects (commissioned directly by companies, so we cannot list them here)

Group members of the WG

Leader of the WG

Dr.mont. Philipp Sedlazeck, M.Sc.
Contaminated site-/environmental remediation, wastewater treatment and waste mineralogy

Assistants

Dipl.-Ing. Paul Demschar
Biogenic Waste, Processing and Seconday Raw Materials

Dipl.-Ing. Florian Feucht
Mineralogy and Slag Mineralogy

Martin Findl, BSc MSc
Applied Mineralogy, Aqueous Geochemistry, Geochemistry, Petrology and Stable Isotopes

Thomas Kremlicka, MSc.
Crystallography and Mineralogy

Bettina Ratz, MSc
Hydrogeochemistry and Mineralogy

Alena Vydrenkova, MSc
Contaminated Site-/ Environmental Remediation, Life Cycle Assessment and Waste Management

Student employees

• Jonathan Krobatschek
• Jens Schindele

With the following form you can directly contact the leader of the working group Mister Dr. Philipp Sedlazeck.