Resources and ecology new approaches to processing slags

There is no need to prove the importance, enormity, or potentially serious consequences of the environmental problems that had come into being by the end of the last century. The imperatives of industrial, commercial, and residential development have come up against the limited resources of nature, and increasing competition in the marketplace has implicity or explicitly accelerated the depletion of raw materials. However, as was noted by Academician Vernadskii at the beginning of this century, the evolutionary development of the economic system realizes the principle of conservation in the course of its normal functioning. The essence of this principle is that any substance which is used repeatedly in a complex sequence of processes is necessarily reused and ultimately almost never leaves the production cycle. This win-win strategy is now beginning to be used in economics, but it can be successfully implemented only on the basis of continuous progress in technology - progress that requires substantial capital investment. It has already been repeatedly demonstrated that the 'greening' of industry is advantageous not only from an environmental standpoint, but also from the viewpoint of the long-term health of the economy.