Ctg sit23 hub banner.jpg

Royal Mint to extract gold from old smartphones and laptops

Image:

Royal Mint to extract gold from old smartphones and laptops

Initial use of the technology has already recovered gold with a purity of 999.9

Britain's coin maker the Royal Mint has unveiled plans to extract gold and other precious metals from old phones and laptops.

The government organisation has signed a deal with Canadian clean tech startup Excir to use 'sustainable precious metal technology' to retrieve gold, silver, palladium and copper from electronic waste (e-waste).

Excir says its technology can selectively target and extract precious metals from circuit boards within 'seconds'.

The plans would see Royal Mint recovering precious metals at room temperature at its site in Llantrisant in South Wales, instead of e-waste leaving UK shores to be processed at high temperatures in smelters.

Initial use of Excir's technology at the Mint's Llantrisant site has shown promising results, retrieving gold with a purity of 999.9. When fully scaled up, it would be able to recover other rare metals as well, like silver, palladium and copper.

Royal Mint CEO Anne Jessopp said the new technology has "huge" potential in preserving precious metals and developing new skills.

She expects it to help reduce the amount of e-waste worldwide and "make a genuine impact on one of the world's greatest environmental challenges."

Sean Millard, chief growth officer at the Royal Mint, described the chemistry behind Excir's technique as "revolutionary".

"It offers huge potential for The Royal Mint and the circular economy - helping to reuse our planet's precious resources and creating new skills in the UK."

The fast-growing number of electronic devices worldwide means the amount of e-waste being sent to landfills is skyrocketing.

Around 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste was produced globally in 2019, according to the United Nations, and recent estimates suggest that electronic components discarded this year alone will weigh over 57 million tonnes.

If these trends continue, the amount of e-waste worldwide will increase to an estimated 74 million tonnes by 2030.

Electronics are some of the most environmentally harmful objects that consumers regularly discard. They often contain elements like lead, cadmium and mercury, which can leak into the soil if these items are sent to landfill. Eventually, these make their way back into our food chain - with predictably unhealthy effects.

In December, a study by e-waste removal firm Clearitwaste found that UK households are producing the second-highest amount of e-waste in Europe: around 55 kg per household each year, just after Norway with 57kg per household in a single year.

Researchers believe that as much as seven per cent of the world's gold may be contained in e-waste. However, less than 20 per cent of e-waste is currently recycled worldwide, with precious metals valued at £41 billion largely discarded.

Despite the positives of e-waste recycling, some scientists have raised doubts over the sustainability of the process given the use of acids involved.

Excir says it uses an extremely mild solution to extract precious metals, which has a 'negligible' environmental impact.

Royal Mint to extract gold from old smartphones and laptops

Initial use of the technology has already recovered gold with a purity of 999.9

Privacy

Apple takes aim at rivals in new privacy-focused ad campaign

Green

Researchers extract gold from e-waste using cheesemaking byproduct

Public Sector

National Grid is turning analogue to digital - Ctrl Alt Lead podcast