This project focused on the recovery of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The primary objective of this project was the delivery of a trial to demonstrate the potential for the recovery of CRMs, present in printed circuit boards (PCBs), from WEEE using a state of art enabling technology. The results of this project are being used to make the case to the WEEE management sector of this enabling technology already used in Japan, Taiwan and Germany (with over 98% recovery of precious and platinum group metals) to maximise recovery value in the UK.
The results show that the recovery efficiencies were in excess of 99% for Copper, Gold and Silver. Recovery of the identified CRMs Tantalum, Gallium, Indium and Niobium in excess of 90% in the output material. Analysis also picked up very low levels of yttrium, scandium, lanthanum, niobium, dysprosium and holmium. Palladium showed a minimum of 95% recovery.