The increasing importance of waste materials utilization with the necessary modification to remove various pollutants from industrial wastewater has been a research focus over the past few decades. Using waste material from one industry to solve pollution problems in another ultimately leads toward sustainable and circular approaches in environmental engineering, solving waste management and wastewater treatment issues simultaneously. In contemporary research and industry, there is a notable trend toward utilizing industrial wastes as precursors for adsorbent formation with a wide application range. In line with this trend, red mud, a byproduct generated during alumina production, is increasingly viewed as a material with the potential for beneficial reuse rather than strictly a waste. One of the potential uses of red mud, due to its specific composition, is in the removal of heavy metal and radionuclide ions. This study summarizes red mud’s potential as an adsorbent for wastewater treatment, emphasizing techno-economic analysis and sorption capacities. An overview of the existing research includes a critical evaluation of the adsorption performance, factors influencing efficiency rather than efficacy, and the potential for specific pollutant adsorption from aqueous solutions. This review provides a new approach to a circular economy implementation in wastewater treatment while guiding future research directions for sustainable and cost-effective solutions.

Oko 75% emisije gasova sa efektom staklene bašte potiče od sagorevanja fosilnih goriva u procesu proizvodnje energije. Smanjenje karbonskog otiska i imperativ održivog razvoja kao ciljevi „Zelene agende“ se mogu postići samo promenom udela pojedinih izvora energije u energetskom miksu. U skladu sa tim, nuklearna energija zajedno sa hidroenergijom je ključni izvor niskougljične energije za mnoge zemlje širom sveta. Međutim, primena nuklearne energije u proizvodnji električne izuzetno varira jer su brojne one države koje se u velikoj meri oslanjaju na nju, ali nasuprot tome brojne su i one koje je uopšte ne upotrebljavaju. Ključno pitanje je održivost velikih reaktora, koji su se pokazali kao najefikasniji način za proizvodnju energije. Iako su koristi primene nuklearne energije za čovečanstvo neosporne, brojne izazove donose i tržišni trendovi i političke strategije, koje je teško predvideti ili kontrolisati. U ovom radu su sumirani rezultati i dostignuća u razvoju nuklearnih fisionih tehnologija širom sveta.

The annual increase in global water pollution has raised serious health and environmental concerns. Commercially available and well-known sorbents, such as activated carbon, chitosan, and Dowex resin, were utilized for wastewater treatment by sorbing Zn2+ and Pb2+ ions. The aim of this study was to evaluate and summarize the potential of these three materials as sorbents for wastewater treatment, with an emphasis on their sorption capacities and techno-economic analysis. The sorption capacities were determined in batch experimental conditions in one-component solutions. Concentrations of Zn2+ and Pb2+ ions before and after the sorption were measured using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP- OES). The overall sorption results indicate the effective removal of Zn2+ and Pb2+ ions, demonstrating the applicability of activated carbon, chitosan, and Dowex resin for the water purification process, with a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of each sorbent by comparing the qualities and efficacy of each sorbent. Key words: Wastewater, heavy metals, water treatment, sorption.

Preovlađujući diskurs o energetici u savremenoj eri naglašava klimatske promene i energetsku bezbednost kao najvažnije zabrinutosti. Dok su obnovljivi izvori energije (OIE) zavisni od geografskih i klimatskih uslova, postavljajući izazove kao što su diskontinuirana dostupnost i zahtevi za okupiranjem velikih površina zemljišta, nuklearna energija predstavlja obećavajuću alternativa. Međutim, putanja ka nuklearnoj energiji kao vidu čiste energije je zamagljena strahovima javnosti i državnim propisima i politikama, iako sa sve većim prepoznavanjem njenog potencijala kao pouzdanog i niskougljeničnog izvora energije. Optimalan put ka niskougljeničnom razvoju energetike, pored upotrebe OIE, podrazumeva i korišćenje nuklearne energije. Napredna nulearna tenologija obezbeđuje poboljšane mere bezbednosti, minimiziranje proizvodnje otpada i dobru alternativu za tranziciju postojećeg energetskog sistema baziranog na konvencionalnim izvorima energije.

The removal of radionuclides from liquid radioactive waste (RW) represents an important environmental and technological challenge. In recent years, increasing attention has been focused on the utilization of inexpensive sorbents derived from waste and by-products. In this study, a comparison of the textural properties and sorption efficiency of waste construction and demolition components towards radionuclide ions was performed. Textural characterization of the materials was performed using BET, BJH, and t-plot analyses in order to determine the specific surface area, pore volume, and pore size distribution. The results revealed significant differences in the textural properties of the investigated materials, with specific surface areas of approximately 48 m2/g for waste concrete (WC), 9 m2/g for waste brick (WB), and 1 m2/g for waste asphalt (WA). Correspondingly, WC exhibited the highest sorption capacities, reaching up to ≈0.55 mmol/g for Ni2+ in previous research. The comparison between the textural parameters and the sorption performance of the investigated ions confirmed that sorption behavior is influenced by a complex interplay of multiple factors. These include the surface chemistry of the sorbent, the speciation of the ions, and the experimental conditions, all of which collectively govern the efficiency of radionuclide sorption.

The rapid growth of industry has significantly increased water pollution, especially from heavy metals which are not biodegradable and tend to accumulate in living organisms through the food chain. Consequently, the development of a sustainable low-cost wastewater treatment approach has attracted more attention from policymakers and scientists. Traditional methods, such as chemical precipitation, filtration, and activated carbon adsorption, often require high operational and capital costs. Recently, biochar has emerged as a promising sorbent due to its eco-friendliness, favorable surface and structural properties, and high adsorption capacity. Additionally, biochar can be produced from a variety of biomass feedstocks, which will be illustrated in this paper through specific examples. This process not only addresses the issue of heavy metal contamination in wastewater but also provides a viable alternative for managing bio-waste that would otherwise be discarded. While biochar's efficiency in removing contaminants has been well demonstrated at the lab scale, mainly focusing on the sorption of a single metal from spiked solutions, further in situ studies are necessary to evaluate performance with real effluents and assess the environmental impact before its large-scale application.