As part of TransFIRe, the British Geological Society (BGS) is working to gain a better understanding of the composition and production of mineral waste in the UK. This research aims to help refine the estimate of the amount of mineral waste produced in the UK and provide more data on the composition of this waste to determine any potential uses for manufacturing processes within the Foundation Industries (FI).
The FI are significant mineral consumers and use at least one or more of the products from the UK minerals industry, for example gypsum in cement and ceramics or silica sand in glass, metals and others.
Mineral extraction and processing involves selection, size reduction and separation into products and inevitably will lead to the production of waste – material that is either discarded or unsold. Multiplied over the 2000 or so mining and quarrying operations in the UK, this adds up to the production of a large amount of mineral waste.
Although publicly available data is lacking, in 2021, the volume of mineral waste was estimated to be around 47.4 million tonnes in the UK, with 21 million tonnes coming from the production of construction aggregate.
In reality, most of the mineral waste produced is put straight to use and does not leave the quarry or mine site at which it was extracted. This is used to backfill the voids left by extraction and for site restoration works as part of the planning permission for the operation. In this sense, this material has a perfectly acceptable use and is not really “waste”. In fact, very little waste from quarrying operations is actually sent to landfill, only 13,221 tonnes in 2020/21.
With the introduction of the Landfill Tax in 1996, the Aggregates Levy in 2002 and the EU Mining Waste Directive in 2006, the UK minerals industry began to look more closely at what constitutes mining waste and initiated many new attempts to reduce, reuse and recycle mineral waste. However, despite a host of research projects over the past 25 years, no large volume applications have so far been developed beyond the more traditional uses as a filler material and other construction applications.
In 2023, research in this area mainly focuses on resource efficiency and circular economy, tightening regulation to control the impact of mining operations and the drive towards industrial decarbonisation and net zero. Added to this is a concern regarding resource security and risk to supply that has sharpened the focus on indigenous mineral resources amidst increasingly competitive global demands for raw materials.
In 2021, the BGS embarked on a series of visits to UK mineral operations to improve the understanding of mineral waste production, composition, and its potential for use. The characterisation of the waste has included analysis to determine mineralogical (X-ray diffraction analysis), chemical (X-ray fluorescence analysis) and physical properties (particle-size analysis).
This has enabled the sharing of data and information on poorly understood stocks and flows of waste materials between different industries and is a great example of the type of study that is needed to determine alternative uses for mineral waste. The research has already stimulated interest in its use in novel polymer coatings and in investment casting with many more potential applications being possible.
For more information on this research and potential uses for mineral waste, please contact:
Clive Mitchell, Tom Bide and Evi Petavratzi
Materials Proceedings
“Fuelling the Foundation Industries: Discovering the Hidden Value of Mineral Waste in the UK” which was presented at the 2nd International Conference on Raw Materials and Circular Economy “RawMat2023”, Zappeion Exhibition Hall, Athens, Greece, 28th August to 2nd September 2023.
Available online here: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4605/15/1/80
PDF Version: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4605/15/1/80/pdf