International Symposium “Membranes for Waste2Resources-2019" successfully held in Shanghai
Extraction of resources from waste streams is changing the paradigm of waste management where, besides water, separation of valuable organic and inorganic matter is also important. Recovering the maximum amount of these resources remains a great challenge to scientists and engineers. “Membranes for Waste2Resources” is an international network of researchers from both academia and industry. We aim to utilize membrane and/or other innovative technologies as the building blocks to create low energy, small footprint, low cost and green solutions for recovery of resources from waste streams. Supported by the Newton Advanced Research Fellowship from the Royal Society and the BRICS Framework Program of the National Natural Science Foundation China, the international symposium Membranes for Waste2Resources-2019 (W2R2019) was jointly organized by the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, the University of Glasgow and A.V.Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, the Russian Academy of Sciences on June 1-2 in Shanghai.
Around 80 participants from 7 different countries and regions, including Australia, Brazil, China and Hong Kong, Italy, Russian, and USA attended the symposium. Intensive discussions were held on high performance pressure driven desalination membranes, green solvents for membrane fabrication, pre-treatment, nanotechnology for membrane analysis as well as fouling control using novel nanobubble systems. A case study on treating flooding mining water in Brazil using electrodialysis was presented as an efficient method for both water treatment and recovery of valuable metals. Exchange of ideas from multidisciplinary subjects promoted potential close collaborations, allowing us to exchange the latest progress and perspectives on future development in our own research fields. The meeting provided a valuable opportunity for all senior and junior scientists and engineers who attended.
Two technical meetings on how to strength the efforts of different countries towards finding new integral and synergistic solutions on effective processing of wastewaters for recovery of valuable metals and clean water took place on the next day, June 3, within on-going China-UK Newton Advanced Research Fellowship and BRICS project "Waste2Resorces".
