Topic: Bioleaching for Recovery of Precious Metal from Electronic Waste for Circular Manufacturing

As critical elements become rarer, urban mining emerges as a promising new source of materials, where e-waste becomes an e-source! For most of electronic devices that have become essential to our daily lives, printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the main processing unit, but their sustainable disposal and the recovery of their metals remains a major challenge for the circular economy. Uncontrolled handling of waste PCBs is widespread, leading to loss of critical and precious metals and an increased negative environmental impact. However, as traditional recycling methods are too often unsustainable, it is not just about recycling; it is about recycling sustainably. Recently, sustainable processes have started to be developed using bioleaching technology, which employs non-toxic microorganisms to recover and offers a simple and environmentally friendly approach that aims to avoid the use of high energy, the production of toxic waste and high carbon footprints. In this issue, the use of bioleaching for the sustainable processing of e-waste is demonstrated in an attempt to motivate researchers and industries to adopt these methods for sustainable and economic e-waste recycling.

30 Sep 2024