ABSTRACT
Industrial advancement and the overgrowing population have resulted in the exploitation of natural resources and generation of gigantic amounts of waste. The extensive use of metals has resulted in the dwindling of natural resources and also created environmental problems. Many valuable metals are disposed along with waste creating a gap between availability and demand. Hence, it is obligatory to retrieve metals from waste which can be considered as artificial ores due to their high metal concentrations. The chapter aims to encompass the different aspects of metal recovery including different methods employed, different mechanisms that regulate the potential of metal removal, the plethora of organisms involved, the recent trends, and future prospects. The recovery of metals from wastes has a massive future potential and will play a remarkable role in altering the situation of ever-decreasing grades of ores. Also, the major areas that need to be explored in the future are highlighted, along with different available tools for facilitating the decision-making processes in view of large-scale applications. This chapter presents an overview of the various methodologies and their mechanisms, employed for the recovery of metals from secondary sources.
