The importance of mineral processing technology for establishing a sustainable society with an environmentally-sound material cycle

For establishing sustainable material cycle process in human system, a brand new concept should be created, which could recycle the waste materials, which are land-fi lled and discarded under present economical situation. The concept of 'RtoS' (Reserve (of waste) to Stock) to create 'artifi cial deposit' of the materials concentrate is one of the best ideas to be applied. From this viewpoint, separation technology, in especial, solid phase separation such as mineral processing technology contributes much to the concentration, making 'artifi cial deposit' with less energy consumption compared with melting and/or dissolving technologies. Results of rare metals concentration in the e-waste are also introduced as an example with combining novel comminution and parts/powder separation.