2026-10-11T11:30:35Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33236138 2026-09-18T10:14:16Z category_272 category_39 category_122 portal_63 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Composition and Critical Mineral Content of Major Industrial Wastewaters: Implications for Treatment and Resource Recovery Technologies Monong Wang (8827769) Jaebeom Park (16557296) Sui Xiong Tay (24561650) Vineet Bansal (13935093) Emily J. Rabe (4604431) Ryan S. Kingsbury (3628745) Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Mental Health total dissolved solids mitigating environmental impacts highlighting common challenges geothermal power generation fuel power generation six major industries critical mineral content major industrial wastewaters valorization technologies aimed reflect realistic properties wastewater resource recovery effective recovery technologies recovery technologies generation rates industrial wastewater identifying industries cm content industrial activity wastewater streams wastewater characteristics widespread presence waste streams synthetic substitutes supply chains rechargeable batteries often limited new foundation modern economies leading researchers highly variable gas production electrical components earth elements data describing coal mining better guide Critical minerals (CMs), such as lithium for rechargeable batteries and rare-earth elements for electrical components, are the new foundation of modern economies, technologies, and infrastructure, yet their supply chains are vulnerable to disruption. The widespread presence of CMs in industrial wastewater has motivated the development of wastewater resource recovery or valorization technologies aimed at enhancing supply chain resilience and mitigating environmental impacts. However, wastewater characteristics are highly variable, and data describing them are often limited or incomplete, leading researchers to rely on synthetic substitutes that may not reflect realistic properties. To better guide this research, here we compile and analyze the pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), total organic carbon (TOC), inorganic composition, CM content, and generation rates of wastewater streams from twenty-two individual industrial activities. These activities are associated with six major industries: oil and gas production, metal and coal mining, manufacturing, fossil-fuel power generation, geothermal power generation, and gasification. We conclude our study by (1) identifying industries and waste streams with high CM recovery potential, (2) highlighting common challenges for recovery technologies, and (3) creating representative wastewater compositions for each industrial activity to support the development of realistic and effective recovery technologies. 2026-08-25T00:00:00Z Dataset Dataset 10.1021/acs.est.6c04293.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Composition_and_Critical_Mineral_Content_of_Major_Industrial_Wastewaters_Implications_for_Treatment_and_Resource_Recovery_Technologies/33236138 CC BY-NC 4.0