HARMONISING ECONOMIC OUTPUTS BY ADOPTING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS

Abstract

The environment is a composite asset which provides diverse services that sustain lives. A critical aspect of environmental economics is integrating environmental sustainability to enhance economic growth and promote sustainable consumption of natural resources. It is within this context that this study aims at harmonising economic outputs such as wastes generated from oil and gas operations or mining processes by adopting green recovery options such as the use of ionic liquids. The methodology used includes laboratory research where a green solvent, 1-propyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (propylMIMBr) ionic liquids was synthesised as an immediate solution to optimise material recovery processes for reuse. The findings showed that ionic liquids successfully extracted some of the target contaminants from the simulated mixture. Thus, it was concluded that adopting green solvents can proffer solutions in minimising material footprints, as the selective extraction of target contaminants which forms a new stream of materials can increase reuse options.