Development prospects

Stabilization-solidification processes are a key element in the management of hazardous waste. In particular, the proposed outlet for solidifiates determines how they are used: the qualities required for these materials are, of course, very different between a landfill for hazardous waste and one for inert waste, or even for their recovery. Technical constraints entail highly variable costs (from €100 to €150/t for treatment of REFIOM with hydraulic binders, to several hundred €/t for vitrification and treatment of transferred pollution), which can be "balanced" by the cost of disposal or a better possibility of recovery as a material with special properties. Future industrial strategies depend directly on process and regulatory developments: the possibility of recovery as a commoditized material would of course change the data and make processes such as vitrification, currently considered...