Developments in Urban E-Waste Mining

🌱 Why is urban e-waste worth mining?

Consumer electronic devices, such as mobile phones and computers, are a valuable source of precious metals. According to the World Economic Forum, a mobile phone consists of “15% copper and other compounds, 10% other metals and 3% iron”. Generally, iron, copper, and gold are the components that contribute most to the value of global e-waste. In 2019 alone, 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste were generated globally, and the raw materials in this e-waste were estimated to be worth around $57 billion. Only a sixth of the value of e-waste – roughly $10 billion – was recovered in a way that was “environmentally sound”.

🌱 What geopolitical interests are there?

The G-7 nations “are estimated to produce 20 kilograms of e-waste per capita per year”. Yet, they have very limited natural reserves of rare metals and are therefore strongly reliant on imports. Together, the G-7 nations only account “for an average of 8% of global production for 19 different rare metals” and produce close to no tantalum, tungsten, manganese, or vanadium. In an attempt to “mitigate potential risks to economic security”, the G-7 nations are therefore now collaborating to try to source more rare metals from their e-waste.

🌱 What challenges and opportunities are there?

According to the World Economic Forum, “the number of devices connected to the internet was forecast to have been between 25 to 50 billion” by 2020. The market opportunity that the circular economy presents is estimated to be upwards of $4.5 trillion by 2030. By 2040, the carbon emissions created through the production and use of electronics are estimated to make up 14% of the total global emissions.

🌱 Can gold be extracted commercially from old circuit boards?

The Canadian startup Excir has, together with the Royal Mint, invented an energy-efficient way to allegedly extract 99% of gold found inside the printed circuit boards of discarded laptops and old mobile phones. Through the process, gold and other precious metals (such as palladium and platinum) are extracted chemically from urban e-waste. The Royal Mint is opening a large new factory in South Wales that can process 90 tonnes of circuit boards weekly when its fully operational.

🌱 Can microbes be used commercially to recover metals from e-waste?

Mint Innovation is a startup from New Zealand. The startup “has developed a low-cost, biotech process for recovering valuable metals from e-waste”. It recovers precious metals from crushed e-waste using inexpensive chemicals and naturally-sourced microbes. Its plant in Sydney, Australia can process over 3000 tonnes of urban e-waste annually.