Copper waste is iron-rich hazardous waste containing heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, Co, Pb. The results of leaching tests show that the concentration of these elements exceeds the Turkish and EPA regulatory limits. Consequently, this waste cannot be disposed of in its present form and therefore requires treatment to stabilize it or make it inert prior to disposal. Vitrification was selected as the technology for the treatment of the toxic waste under investigation. During the vitrification process significant amounts of the toxic organic and inorganic chemical compounds could be destroyed, and at the same time, the metal species are immobilized as they become an integral part of the glass matrix. The copper flotation waste samples used in this research were obtained from the Black Sea Copper Works of Samsun, Turkey. The samples were vitrified after being mixed with other inorganic waste and materials. The copper flotation waste and their glass-ceramic products were characterized by X-ray analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and by the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure test. The products showed very good chemical durability. The glass-ceramics fabricated at 850°C/2 h have a large application potential especially as construction and building materials.

Red mud, an industrial by‐product generated during the processing of bauxite ore, was investigated as an inexpensive and effective adsorbent for the adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solution. Chemical and heat treatments were applied to the raw red mud. The effects of contact time, adsorbent amount, pH, temperature and initial dye concentration were investigated. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics of the raw and activated red mud were studied. Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherms were obtained using concentrations of methylene blue ranging from 10 to 70 mg/L. The results indicated that the Dubinin–Radushkevich model provides the best correlation of the experimental data. The adsorption rate data were analysed according to the pseudo‐first order kinetic, pseudo‐second order kinetic, intraparticle diffusion kinetic and Elovich kinetic models. The pseudo‐second order kinetic was the best fit kinetic model for the experimental data.

Although there are a lot of studies in literature related to the life cycle assessment (LCA) of mining, there are only a few studies done on the boron mining industry. This paper presents an LCA of the boron mining industry including the extraction, beneficiation, and refinement processes. The main purpose is to identify and compare the environmental impacts associated with the production of 1 ton of refined products (boric acid, borax pentahydrate, borax decahydrate, and sodium perborate) starting from an open pit mine located in Turkey. The life cycle inventory (LCI) was obtained from the data collected from the related literature sources and the company’s reports. This cradle-to-gate analysis has been carried out using the commercial software called SimaPro employing the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) 2011 Midpoint+ Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method. The results showed that the environmental impact of the refinement process is critical compared to the mining and beneficiations processes. Sulphuric acid, steam, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium perborate which are used in refined boron production cause most of the impact and emission into the environment. Among the refined boron products investigated, the impact of sodium perborate is quite high.