A highly effective method of the processing of steelmaking dust in an arc-resistant furnace has been presented. The aim of the research was to investigate the possibility of processing steelmaking dust in terms of waste minimization and selective recovery of valuable components. For this purpose, an electric arc resistance furnace was used. Granulated steelmaking dust with reducer (coal dust) was the input material. The products of the process are zinc oxide, iron alloy and slag, with properties meeting high ecological requirements. The technology does not generate solid waste. Zinc recovery is over 99% and iron recovery over 98%. The content of heavy metals (Zn + Pb + Cu) in glassy slag is below 0.2%, which ensures very low leachability.

CuO-ZnO-Al₂O₃ catalysts are designed for low-temperature conversion in the process of hydrogen and ammonia synthesis gas production. This paper presents the results of research into the recovery of copper and zinc from spent catalysts using pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical methods. Under reducing conditions, at high temperature, having appropriately selected the composition of the slag, more than 66% of the copper can be extracted in metallic form, and about 70% of zinc in the form of ZnO from this material. Hydrometallurgical processing of the catalysts was carried out using two leaching solutions: alkaline and acidic. Almost 62% of the zinc contained in the catalysts was leached to the alkaline solution, and about 98% of the copper was leached to the acidic solution. After the hydrometallurgical treatment of the catalysts, an insoluble residue was also obtained in the form of pure ZnAl₂O₄. This compound can be reused to produce catalysts, or it can be processed under reducing conditions at high temperature to recover zinc. The recovery of zinc and copper from such a material is consistent with the policy of sustainable development, and helps to reduce the environmental load of stored wastes.

Smelting of copper concentrates in a flash furnace directly into a copper blister results in the production of slag with high copper and lead content. The recovery of these metals is carried out in an electric furnace, from which copper–lead–iron metallic alloy is then processed in a converter furnace. In the presented work, copper and lead extraction studies were carried out by hydrometallurgical route under leaching in ammonium acetate solutions. The obtained results indicate the possibility of receiving quite high copper leaching efficiency from slag with a relatively low yield for lead extraction. The use of ammonium acetate solutions with a concentration of 5 mol/dm³ leads to leaching from the slag over 80% of the copper contained in it after 90 min of the process carried out at a temperature of 70 ℃. Model calculations related to the study of the kinetics of the process indicate that after 120 min of leaching it can be expected that 90% of the copper contained in the slag could be carried out into the solution.

Various types of waste materials containing zinc (e.g. dusts and sludges from gas dedusting process) are obtained in steel industry. The contents of Zn in these materials may vary considerably. Even a low concentration of zinc in recirculated products precludes their recycling in ferrous metallurgy aggregates. Long storage of this type of material can lead to contamination of soil and water by zinc compounds which can be leached out by acid rain, for example. This paper focuses on research involving alkaline leaching tests of low zinc content iron-bearing materials. These tests were preceded by the analysis of the elemental, phase and grain size composition, and analysis of the thermodynamic conditions of the leaching process. The main aim of research was to decrease the content of the zinc in the sludge to the level where it is suitable as an iron-bearing material for iron production (~1% Zn). Leaching at elevated temperatures (368 K, 60 min) has led to a decrease in the zinc content in the sludge of about 66%. The research revealed that long hour leaching (298 K, 100 hours) carried out at ambient temperatures caused a reduction in zinc content by 60% to the value of 1.15-1.2% Zn.