Virotec: a ten-year story of success in environmental remediation

Virotec: a ten-year story of success in environmental remediation

This book was originally published as a research paper titled: 'Commercialisation of environmental technologies derived from alumina refinery residues: A ten-year case history of Virotec', and formed part of the ATF-06-3 project on the 'Management of Bauxite Residues' for the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (DRET), Commonwealth Government of Australia. As such it also represented part of the overall commitment of the Australian Government towards the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate as it related to the management and reuse of caustic alumina refinery residues (ARR).

The purpose of the book is twofold: firstly, to present a technical and operational overview of the technologies of Virotec, including commercial development pathways and case examples of applications; and secondly, to provide an overview of environmental and waste treatment problems in the Asia-Pacific region, and to project the volumes of chemical reagents and ARR required to treat them. Virotec thus provides a concrete example of how to commercialise environmental remediation and waste treatment technologies derived from the conversion and safe reuse of ARR. Since 2000, Virotec has researched, developed and commercialised a range of technically engineered environmental and industrial waste solutions derived from utilising and augmenting the specific physical and chemical properties
of alumina refinery residues. These solutions provide evidence of how a sustainable industrial future can be achieved through the conversion and reuse of this type of solid waste.