The 2008 Global Symposium on Recycling, Waste Treatment and Clean Technology (REWAS 2008) is the third in a series of international conferences to address the continuing globalization of environment protection through progress in recycling technology, re-engineering of the production system, and clean technologies. The conference incorporates the Fifth International Symposium on Recycling of Metals and Engineered Materials and R\'08 - the World Congress on the Recovery of Materials and Energy for Resource Efficiency. Technical topics covered in the conference proceedings include:Aluminum By-product Recovery and Secondary ProductionAutomotive RecyclingCase Studies in the Development of Waste Treatment TechnologiesClean Technology and Re-engineering of Current ProcessesComposite MaterialsDesign and Engineering of Waste Treatment PlantsEconomic Evaluation of Waste Treatment StrategiesElectronic WasteEnvironmental Issues Related to Waste Storage and RecyclingFerrous MetalsGeneral Recycling and Solid Waste ProcessingHeavy-Metal Containing WasteNonferrous MetalsPrecious and Rare MetalsRadioactive WasteRefractory MetalsRemediation of Contaminated Soil and Industrial SitesResources, Monitoring and Characterization of WasteTreatment of Liquid and Gaseous EffluentsWaste Conversion and Reutilization