UK factory recovers gold from e-waste
The Royal Mint in the UK has opened a commercial factory to process gold from electronic waste (e-waste).
The plant pans to process up to 4,000 tonnes of Printed Circuit Boards from e-waste each year to produce 99% pure gold for jewelry.
The 3,700 square metre facility in South Wales is the first to use a patented chemistry from Canadian clean tech company Excir to extract gold from the PCBs in e-waste such as old TVs, laptops and mobile phones. The Excir chemistry works at room temperature, creating a more energy efficient and cost-effective method of gold recovery.
The Royal Mint has also been actively engaging with major industry bodies to help produce the first standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for the definition of recycled gold, helping to provide clarity to the industry, end consumer and other stakeholders.
According to the United Nations’ Global E-waste Monitor, the generation of worldwide e-waste is rising by 2.6 million tonnes every year. A record 62 million tonnes of e-waste was produced in 2022, up 82% from 2010.
The Royal Mint also recovers silver, copper, palladium, aluminium and tantalum for capacitors and the glass fibre from the PCBs is used to strengthen concrete.
“We are not only preserving finite precious metals for future generations, but we are also preserving the expert craftmanship The Royal Mint is famous for by creating new jobs and reskilling opportunities for our employees,” said Anne Jessopp, Chief Executive at The Royal Mint.
Recycled gold from e-waste was used for the gold medals at the 2020/2021 Olympics in Tokyo, and SK Hynix has shown a roadmap for using recycled materials.
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