ABSTRACT
The word “resource” is used in many ways: metal resources, wood resources, water resources, inorganic resources, energy resources, good resources and human resources. This chapter discusses the issue of resources from the viewpoint of chemical engineers. The recovery of resources from various wastes undergoes the same economic change. Metal extraction has traditionally employed pyrometallurgical techniques in which the ores are usually smelted and purified. The large-scale operation of the hydrometallurgical process in the copper industry had started in Spain even before the eighteenth century. The liquid membrane process combines simultaneous extraction on one side of the membrane and stripping on the other side. The Clean Japan Center constructed a demonstration plant for recycling mercury-containing wastes in the northern island of Hokkaido in July 1985 and experimental operation continued for two years until September 1987. The Clean Japan Center is an organization which promotes recycling of waste materials for further use.
