Characterization of Solid-phase Antimony Speciation in Incinerator Fly Ash: Implications for Critical Raw Material Recovery

Incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a growing waste management strategy in Europe, but this method produces ash that has traditionally been viewed as a disposal issue due to its high content of potentially toxic metal(loids), including antimony (Sb). However, Sb has now been classified as a Critical Raw Material (CRM) in the EU (and US, among other regions), which provides new motivation to recover Sb from different waste streams. This proposal aims to collect Sb K-edge XAS data of a comprehensive set of fly ash samples collected from key areas of one of the EU’s largest MSW incinerators. This knowledge is essential to optimize recovery methods (i.e., selective leaching) that target different solid-phase Sb species in the fly ash, which can help create local sources of valuable CRMs from this waste.