THE IMPORTANCE OF MINERAL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY FOR ESTABLISHING A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY WITH AN ENVIRONMENTALLY-SOUND MATERIAL CYCLE

摘要

For establishing sustainable material cycle process in human system, a brand new concept should becreated, which could recycle the waste materials, which are land-filled and discarded under presenteconomical situation. The concept of ‘RtoS’ (Reserve (of waste) to Stock) to create ‘artificial deposit’of the materials concentrate is one of the best ideas to be applied. From this viewpoint, separationtechnology, in especial, solid phase separation such as mineral processing technology contributesmuch to the concentration, making ‘artificial deposit’ with less energy consumption compared withmelting and/or dissolving technologies. Results of rare metals concentration in the e-waste are alsointroduced as an example with combining novel comminution and parts/powder separation.