Not before time, the UK is due to get its first plant in Cheshire to extract precious metals (largely gold and platinum) from electronic waste which is termed 'e-waste' (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/22/britain-first-commercial-refinery-extracting-precious-metals-e-waste-mint-innovation). The plant will be a startup from Mint Innovations (a New Zealand group) and will be the first to use a bacteria-based process, rather than the more typical cyanide-based technique. The startup is necessary as the UK is unlikely to have access to extraction facilities in Europe after Brexit. A UN report noted that 54 million tonnes of e-waste was generated world-wide in 2019 (this is growing at 3 times the speed of the world's human population). Much of this waste is not recycled (it's relatively difficult, given the mixture of materials). The UN report estimated, however, that almost £8 billion pounds worth of precious metals could be extracted (and reused) annually from e-waste. It seems silly just to throw it away! Having said that, it was earlier noted that one can extract precious metals from human faeces.
No comments:
Post a Comment