The chemical industry alone produces 11.5 million tons of brine every year. Brines are highly concentrated solutions of salt water containing many chemicals, minerals, metals and organics which can be extracted as valuable resources for reuse.

The current linear economy approach perpetuates the disposal of brine. This has economic consequences in terms of treatment and disposal costs and environmental impacts such as harmful salinity for land and aquatic ecosystems and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy consumption.

ZERO BRINE proposes a circular economy approach to reduce the negative impacts of brine from process industries and create economic value from the reuse of its constituents, such as sodium chloride, magnesium, calcium, sulphates, sodium bicarbonate, heat and fresh water. ZERO BRINE demonstrates the use of a combination of existing and innovative technologies for recovery and reuse. This policy brief first demonstrates the potential resource recovery, environmental and economic benefits as well as policy gaps and recommendations.