1^st International Circular Hydrometallurgy Symposium - ICHS 2024

Prof. Koen Binnemans is an inorganic chemist and full professor at KU Leuven (Belgium). He is head of the Laboratory of Metallurgical Chemistry (SOLVOMET Group). His main research lines are: (1) critical metals, with a focus on energy-transition metals (rare earths, lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese); (2) solvent extraction, (3) hydrometallurgy and (4) solvometallurgy. Koen Binnemans has created the concept of Circular Hydrometallurgy and its 12 Principles. Circular hydrometallurgy refers to the designing of energy-efficient and resource-efficient flowsheets or unit processes that consume the minimum quantities of reagents and result in minimum waste. The application of a circular approach involves new ways of thinking about how hydrometallurgy is applied for both primary and secondary resources.