PROCESSING SPENT CATALYST TO RECOVER METAL VALUES AND TO MINIMIZE OR ELIMINATE HAZARDOUS WASTE

Replacements for the halocarbons banned by the Montreal Protocol will be producedby technologies which generate spent catalysts as a waste byproduct. These spentcatalysts contain tin, a valuable metal resource, in a matrix that willundoubtedly be classified as hazardous with regard to its disposal.Chemical & Metal Industries, Inc., proposed in this Phase I effort to investigatetwo alternative technologies for recovery of tin values from this spent catalyst.The tin recovery processes also aim at minimizing or totally eliminatinghazardous wastes associated with this spent catalyst. Recovered tin productsfrom these processes can be directly recycled to the fluoroproducts industry orto other existing tin chemical markets. Organic wastes from the process can bedisposed of as non hazardous solid wastes.The successes of Chemical & Metal Industries, Inc., in recovering antimony valuesfrom similar classes of spent catalyst and their close association with theplants that will generate this new class of spent tin catalyst assures anexcellent commercialization potential for successful processes developed in PhaseI and Phase II research.