An Integrated Framework for Evaluating Leaching in Waste Management and Utilization of Secondary Materials

TLDR

The paper presents a framework to evaluate inorganic leaching from waste and secondary materials. The framework combines intrinsic leaching measurements with mathematical modeling, offering tiered, site‑specific or default scenarios and detailed laboratory test methods to estimate release under field conditions.

Abstract

A framework for the evaluation of inorganic constituent leaching from wastes and secondary materials is presented. The framework is based on the measurement of intrinsic leaching properties of the material in conjunction with mathematical modeling to estimate release under field management scenarios. Site-specific and default scenarios are considered, which may be selected based on the evaluation context. A tiered approach is provided to allow the end user to balance between the specificity of the release estimate, the amount of testing knowledge required, a priori knowledge, and resources required to complete an evaluation. Detailed test methodologies are provided for a suite of laboratory leaching tests.