Value-added strategies for the sustainable handling, disposal, or value-added use of copper smelter and refinery wastes.

Metallurgical plants constituting of smelters and refineries recover metals (i.e., copper) from mineral deposits. Copper production generates several waste streams of which slag, sludge and dust are generated in the largest quantities. The need to eliminate or at least reduce their adverse effects on the environment call for developing methods for recovering valuable components such as copper, zinc and iron through their selective separation from toxic components present in the waste (mainly arsenic and lead). This can be achieved through hydrometallurgical methods (leaching with organic and inorganic media), techniques facilitating mobility of elements (roasting with leaching) and biological processes (bioleaching). The valorization of metallurgical waste as a source of fertilizer micronutrients can be a sustainable and value-added direction of its management. This review presents ways of useful-metals recovery from the copper smelter and refinery wastes, including selective separation of valuable metals. The novelty of this review is a demonstration of the application potential of recovered components from metallurgical waste in the agricultural sector.