The accumulation of metals in the environment has several negative effects, which tend to be aggravated by their intensive demand and utilization. This situation is accompanied by the depletion of some primary resources. Hence, the recovery of metals from secondary sources, namely wastes and wastewaters, using economically and environmentally sustainable techniques, is a top priority, investigated in the framework of METALCHEMBIO project.

The recovery of strategic metals (Cu and Zn) from two highly metal-contaminated effluents (a severe contaminated acid mine drainage, AMD, and spent solutions from zinc plating industries) is the main scope of the METALCHEMBIO project. The pioneering approach that combines the potential of liquid-liquid extraction as a separation technique, with the versatility of bio-recovery strategies based on the use of bacterial communities, solutions from their activity, or plant extracts, is currently being investigated.

In this seminar the guidelines of the project will be presented and discussed, as well as some results already obtained, with examples of the application of novel and commercial extractants and plant extracts for the separation and recovery of Cu and Zn from AMD and zinc plating effluent samples.