Aluminium recovery from aluminium foil waste as coagulant for domestic wastewater treatment

Abstract The high use of aluminium foil in food and beverage packaging has caused solid waste to increase rapidly, so solid waste treatment is required. This study investigates the best concentration of reactant to aluminium recovery from aluminium foil waste as potash alum coagulant. Potassium hydroxide is used for dissolved aluminium, and sulphuric acid is added to form potash alum crystals. The experimental result got a maximum point for the synthesis of potash alum from aluminium foil: potassium hydroxide 3 M dan sulphuric acid 3 M which produced a potash alum yield’s 99,59% and contains 11,19% of aluminium oxide. The quality of potash alum products is compared to the technical requirements of SNI 0032:2011. Potash alum was applied to the domestic wastewater and compared with commercial alum. The turbidity, TSS, and TDS domestic wastewater treatment results showed that potash alum has better performance than commercial alum.