A number of coal and oil shale deposits are characterized by a complex structure, when layers of minerals are interspersed with empty rocks. The miner's working body design with automatically variable arrangement and length of incisors is proposed. It allows efficient development of complexstructured coal deposits and combustible shales, composed of rocks that differ significantly in their physico-mechanical characteristics, in particular in the strength of uniaxial compression. The use of surface miners allows to abandon drilling and blasting operations, which contributes to improving the quality of minerals extracted, reducing losses during their production, minimizing the recyclable waste and reducing the impact of adverse factors on the environment. Modernized working equipment will also allow to reduce the yield of fine fractions of coal and combustible shale.

A technology has been developed for the recovery of fine-dispersed waste from the extraction and processing of marble in the production of composite building materials based on PVC. The parameters of the polymer composition quality in the presence of a filler, in particular of the melt fluidity, are determined, on the basis of which the processing conditions of the composition with a filler content of 40 to 60% are justified and worked out. The properties of new materials have been studied. It is proved that the new composites outperform the existing analogues in terms of the main consumer characteristics.

The problem of using the accumulated waste of the pulp and paper industry as a component raw material for the production of commodity products, namely cements, is considered. The investigated wastes are colloidal sludge-lignin sediments accumulated during the period of operation of Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (Irkutsk Region) and Selenginskiy Central Control Center (the Republic of Buryatia). Experiments have been carried out on the production of sulfate-containing cement from the ash of sludge-lignin incineration. During the research of the developed mixture it was revealed that the obtained sample is corrosion-resistant in the sulfate medium, and also corresponds to cement of the M400 grade.

Studies on the dust characteristics of electric steelmaking and its use in polymer composite materials production are presented. The dust properties were studied by the methods of electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis, IR spectroscopy, etc. As a polymeric base, phenolformaldehyde resins of domestic production of various grades were used. The kinetic characteristics of obtaining the material, its physical and mechanical properties and structure were studied. Conclusions are made about the possibility of its use in national economic activity.

The results of a study of the sorption of petroleum products (PP) from aqueous solutions by sorbents based on brown coal and polyethylene foam are presented. The possibility of significant decrease in PP concentration when using crumb of polyethylene foam (the first stage of purification) and lowering the content of PP to the value of MPC and lower when using a carbon sorbent based on brown coals of the Irkutsk coal basin (the second stage) is shown. The process of PP sorption was investigated under static and dynamic conditions. The concentration of PP varied from 5 to 500 mg/l. Investigation of PP sorption in the joint use of carbon sorbent and production waste showed high efficiency.

One of the variants of the mathematical describing of motion of solid particles in the liquid flow of a centrifugal separator is proposed. The motion of a single solid particle in a liquid flow is considered using the example of the well-known Chen equation, which is used to study both laminar and turbulent flow regimes in the separation zone. The type of solution obtained allows one to make a qualitative assessment of the effect of the most important parameters on the nature of the motion of solid particles in the separator cell.

The problem of accumulation and ways of searching for the effective use of ash and slag wastes of thermal power plants in the Irkutsk region is considered. The results of the research of the ash dump CHPP-9 (Angarsk), CHPP-11 (Usolye-Sibirskoe) and New Irkutsk CHPP (Irkutsk) of PAO "Irutskenergo" conducted by the Department of Minerals Enrichment and Environmental Protection of the IRNITU. Possible technologies for processing TPP waste are presented in order to obtain various products that can be effectively used at enterprises of the Irkutsk region.

The possibility of accumulated environmental damage liquidation by arsenic wastes of the mining and processing industry is considered using the example of two facilities located in the Irkutsk Region and the Trans-Baikal Territory. Brief information is provided on the results of liquidation of a focus of arsenic pollution in the territory of the city of Svirsk. Presented are the current environmental situation in the Municipality of Svirsk and the work planned by the Government of the Irkutsk Region to rehabilitate the territory subject to prolonged anthropogenic impact. Photographic materials and results of monitoring researches of the territory polluted with arsenic in settlement Vershino-Darasunsky of Trans-Baikal Territory are resulted. Based on the current technological and regulatory framework, it is possible to eliminate the accumulated damage in the village of Vershino-Darasunsky.

The problem of quality and safety of surface fresh water is considered. The global character of its sulfate contamination is shown. Critical analysis of hydrochemical parameters of surface water is carried out on the example of the negative impact of an object polluting a watercourse with sulphate run-off. The preconditions for the violation of the hydrochemical regime and the danger of the occurrence of the sulfate type of water of the calcium group are revealed on the basis of quantitative relationships of the main ions. The high probability of formation of toxic properties of the aquatic environment due to the unaccounted-for sulfate reduction process with the formation of hydrogen sulphide is discussed, which is a factor of ecological risk. The need to develop a methodological basis for state regulation in the field of rationing of pollutants in surface water, taking into account their chemical transformation, is shown.

Analysis of methods for the ecological and economic justification of the standards of losses and dilution of minerals was carried out. Classifications of works and methods for the economic assessment of losses and dilution are proposed. Dignities and problems of these methods are singled out and recommendations for their improvement are given.

The concept of a "green economy" formed in the last two decades is a kind of new model of economic growth in the European Union. It replaced the traditional linear model of the product life cycle, which is still used in the Russian Federation. The environmental law reforms initiated in 2014 should lead Russia to create a new waste management system in which the principles of the expanded responsibility of the manufacturer will find their immediate application. The rapid development of the electronic industry in the postindustrial society contributes to an increase in the production of spent chemical current sources (SCCS). The analysis of the existing legislative framework for the management of SCCS in European countries is presented. The prerequisites for involving SCCS in the economic closed cycle are considered in the context of the introduction of the principles of the expanded responsibility of the producer and the formation of the waste-processing industry. The potential of re-use of SCCS is shown, data of full-scale studies are given.