Recovery of rare earth elements from electronic waste
Project in collaboration with Carlos Ruiz Cánovas, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Huelva (Spain) and Daniel Parvaz ,Selfrag AG (Switzerland)
The unprecedented demand for short-life electronic equipment coupled with rapid advances in technology has led to increasing consumption of so called Rare-Earth Elements (REEs). Most of these critical metals are currently obtained through mining of primary sources such as mineral ores, which are finite and unequally distributed in the world, with mining processes affecting seriously the environment. Concomitantly, the generation of electronic waste (e-waste) worldwide is literally booming and may pose significant human and environmental health risks in the future unless managed properly. Modern electronic devices can contain up to 60 different elements, including valuable and hazardous materials. Due to the presence of these substances in excess amount, e-waste is generally considered as hazardous.
Our research activity is focused on a yet untapped source of biotechnological potential that can lead to innovative applications in the field of environmentally friendly recycling of scarce resources. Need for REEs is growing, as these chemical elements increasingly enter high-tech phones and computers as well as devices required for the transition towards sustainable sources of energy, such as wind turbines. Microbes-mediated leaching process offers many advantages over traditional recycling techniques. Adaptive responses and ecological evolution make metal-leaching bacteria a powerful tool that could be applied to very diverse sources of electronic waste. This applied research offers innovative solutions to a technique that is still in infancy, and has the potential to respond locally to a problem that affects human societies worldwide.