The Royal Mint has announced plans to build a plant in South Wales to recover gold from UK electronic waste.
The facility, one of the first in the UK, will help address a growing environmental issue of e-waste, support jobs and skills in Britain, and create a new source of high-quality precious metals for the business.
The Royal Mint is using patented new chemistry – created by Canadian based Excir – to recover gold within the circuit boards of laptops and mobile phones.
The unique chemistry is capable of recovering over 99% of the precious metals contained within electronic waste – selectively targeting the metal in seconds.
Construction of the plant begins this month, and it will be located within The Royal Mint’s highly secure site to provide a stream of gold directly into the business.
Our investment in a new plant will see The Royal Mint become a leader in sustainably sourced precious metals and provide the UK with a much-needed domestic solution to the growing problem of electronic waste
When fully operational in 2023, The Royal Mint expects to process up to 90 tonnes of UK-sourced circuit boards per week – generating hundreds of kilograms of gold per year.
In addition, the new business venture will support around 40 jobs, helping existing employees to reskill as well as recruiting new chemists and engineers.
Anne Jessopp, Chief Executive of The Royal Mint, said: “We are transforming our business for the future – expanding into areas which complement our expertise in precious metals, champion sustainability and support employment.
“Our investment in a new plant will see The Royal Mint become a leader in sustainably sourced precious metals and provide the UK with a much-needed domestic solution to the growing problem of electronic waste.”
E-waste
Each year, more than 50 million tonnes of electronic waste is produced globally, with less than 20% currently being recycled. If nothing is done, this is set to reach 74 million tonnes by 2030.
Instead of electronic waste leaving UK shores to be processed at high temperatures in smelters, the approach will see precious metals recovered at room temperature at The Royal Mint’s plant in South Wales.
The plant will be able to process the entire circuit board, preserving natural resources for longer, helping to reduce the environmental impact of electronic waste and fostering new skills and employment in the UK.
Sean Millard, Chief Growth Officer at The Royal Mint said: “This approach is revolutionary and offers huge potential to reuse our planet’s precious resources, reduce the environmental footprint of electronic waste and create new jobs.
Waste electricals are the fastest growing waste stream in the UK and the world. In the UK we are throwing away over 300,000 tonnes of electricals each year and hoarding 527 million items.
“We estimate that 99% of the UK’s circuit boards are currently shipped overseas to be processed at high temperatures in smelters. As the volume of electronic waste increases each year, this problem is only set to become bigger.”
Scott Butler, Executive Director for Material Focus, a not-for-profit organisation whose goal is to stop the nation throwing away or hoarding all their old small electricals, said: “The Royal Mint’s innovative plant joins other companies who are beginning the exciting journey that the UK is commencing to realise the huge potential that could be achieved if we were all to recycle our electricals.
“Waste electricals are the fastest growing waste stream in the UK and the world. In the UK we are throwing away over 300,000 tonnes of electricals each year and hoarding 527 million items. 95 tonnes of precious metals including gold, silver and palladium – equivalent to £857 million – could be recycled from unwanted electricals each year.
“Our research has indicated that if all the unwanted electricals we hoard or throw away every year in the UK were recycled, we’d have enough gold to make over 858,000 rings.”
Material Focus’s campaign, Recycle Your Electricals has a postcode locator which provides information on the nearest recycling point for electricals.
