Sustainable waste management is the recycling, reusing,
and recovery
of wastes from natural sources. This research studied the conversion
of Pinus sylvestris residues into sustainable
biochars with improved properties for the adsorption of Co(II) and
Ni(II) with further usage of spent biochars in the removal of carbamazepine.
The biochars possessed high surface areas and abundant chemical composition
with equilibrium adsorption capacities of 0.38 mmol/g for Co(II) and
0.48 mmol/g for Ni(II), forming cobalt phosphate and nickel hydroxide
on the biochar surface. The laden biochars efficiently removed carbamazepine
through adsorption and under UV light, following a first-order kinetic
model with rate constants ranging from 0.0031 to 0.0042 min–1 and achieving an efficiency of over 80%. The complex interaction
mechanisms were responsible for the reduction of the carbamazepine
concentration in the studied systems. This research demonstrates that
waste wood raw materials can be used as synergistic multifunctional
materials.