title: The rare earth elements in municipal solid waste incinerators ash and promising tools for their prospecting.
abstract: Bottom and fly ashes from Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators (MSWI) are hazardous products that present concern for their safe management. An attractive option to reduce their impact both on the environment and the financial commitment is turning MSWI ashes into secondary raw materials. In this study we present the REE content and distribution of bottom and fly ashes from MSWI after a highly effective digestion method and samples analysis by ICP-MS. The chondrite-normalised REE patterns of MSWI bottom and fly ash are comparable with that of crustal averages, suggesting a main geogenic source. Deviations from typical crustal pattern (e.g., Eu, Tb) disclose a contribution of likely anthropogenic provenance. The correlation with major elements indicates possible sources for REE and facilitates a preliminary resource assessment. Moreover, magnetic susceptibility measurements can be a useful prospecting method in urban ores made of MSWI ashes. The relationship between REE and some influencing parameters (e.g., Pricing Influence Factor) emphasises the importance of MSWI ash as alternative source of REE and the need of further efforts for REE recovery and purification from low concentrations but high flows waste.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali (BiGeA)-University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta San Donato 1, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: valerio.funari@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Funari
authors.affiliation: General and Analytical Chemistry-Montanuniversität Leoben, Franz-Josef-Str. 18, Leoben, Austria.
authors.forename: Syed Nadeem Hussain
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Bokhari
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Scienze Marine (ISMAR-CNR)-National Research Council, Via Piero Gobetti 101, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vigliotti
authors.affiliation: General and Analytical Chemistry-Montanuniversität Leoben, Franz-Josef-Str. 18, Leoben, Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meisel
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali (BiGeA)-University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta San Donato 1, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Braga
keywords: Bottom and fly ashes from incinerators; Mass specific magnetic susceptibility; Rare earth elements