How e-waste is recycled

From electronic waste to golden nugget, a step by step overview of our e-waste recycling process.

E-waste collection and sorting

E-waste must be manually dismantled and sorted. This is a labour-intensive process. The components which do not contain precious metals (primarily plastics and aluminium) are sent to specialised recyclers. The precious metal containing e-waste is fully processed at our facility. Depending on volume this is sorted by type to streamline processing or processed as a mixed mass.

Circuit boards ready for e-waste recycling

Shredding

The selected e-waste material is then fed into a jaw crusher to reduce material size and to expose the hidden metal.

Melting and separating

This shredded material is fed into a gas-powered furnace. The silica of the boards is tapped off and borax is added to further capture and remove any non-metal contaminants. The silica and the additional borax form a “waste product”, which can then be used for, as strange as it sounds, the filling of potholes. Remaining in the furnace is a melted metal mass, which is cooled before further processing. This mass is made up predominately of copper, so the initial, and most challenging step, is to electro-win the copper out in solution. The other metals are then systematically separated, relying on the properties of each element and specific chemical solutions.

E-waste recycling process, slag by product, furnace and recycled gold and silver

Purifying

Each metal is then further purified by burning off any residual impurities. The temperature must be maintained at 1200⁰C for at least 30 minutes for the gold to melt and 1000⁰C for silver. The molten metal is then tipped into a large vessel of purified water to create what is called metal grain, the small nuggets of pure metals that form the initial step of the jewellery crafting process.

Safety and Scale of Recycling

To be done safely e-waste recycling needs to be done in controlled refinery environments by skilled technicians. Bear in mind e-waste is considered a hazardous waste, so whilst the finished product may be beautiful granules of pure silver and gold, the process, whilst more sustainable than most additional mining, is not without its hazards. Just one of the air scrubbers at our e-waste facility would take up the entire floorspace of our manufacturing studio!

E-waste recycling is no longer a fringe activity, big players are entering the scene. The Royal Mint in the UK has, after a few false starts (my educated guess would be technological issues with scaling with their cutting-edge room temp chemical process), has begun reclaiming gold from e-waste. Their new plant will process about 4000 tonnes of e-waste each year and produce around 450kg of gold*

*https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6p2k11e41po 14/08/2024