Phytomining as a Nature-based Solution in the Cities of Albania

Phytomining is a “green” alternative to opencast mining practices applied to recover a range of metals (Ni, Co, Au). Nickel-rich soils such as ultramafic soils and industrially polluted soils have a high potential for metal recovery and application in metallurgical processes. Plants are cultivated to extract metals from soils and transport them to aerial plant parts with subsequent harvesting. Metals are then recovered from the biomass. Albania is rich in ultramafic soils (11% of the territory) and Ni-hyperaccumulators. Phytomining field plots have been operating since 2005 in Përrenjas (serpentine and industrial dumpsite) and Elbasan (site, contaminated by industrial activities). Consequently, cropping systems have been designed. The Ni-hyperaccumulator species Odontarrhena chalcidica cultivated on ultramafic plots under organic and mineral fertilization reached a biomass production of 9.96 t/ha and Ni yields of 145 kg/ha and has the potential to become a cash crop. Also, phytomining was applied to municipal and industrial Ni-rich waste and dumpsites located in Elbasan and Përrenjas. Both places have the highest risk of pollution and toxins. We propose phytomining as NbS to improve mineralized soil and restore contaminated or degraded soils while producing biomass for industrial use and phytomining in the city environment.