From Waste to Riches

The Royal Mint’s recycling plant in Wales is up and running. The plant extracts gold from old, discarded electronics, such as phones, computers, and TVs. The gold is then used to create jewelry, and eventually, the coining facility will strike commemorative coins using the reclaimed precious metal. The mint aims to process 4,000-plus tons of e-waste each year, which would generate nearly 1,000 pounds of gold annually.

“We’re taking a waste product that’s being produced by society and we’re mining the gold from that waste product and starting to see the value in that finite resource,” says Inga Doak, head of sustainability. Plus, the plant provides numerous jobs and keeps the United Kingdom’s electronic waste in the country instead of shipping it overseas.

We’re mining the gold from that waste product and starting to see the value in that finite resource.

The extraction process is efficient and trailblazing. “The groundbreaking thing for us is the fact that this chemistry is used at room temperature, at very low energy, it’s recyclable and pulls gold really quickly,” says Leighton John, the mint’s operations director.

The company is looking into what it can do with all the other valuable materials contained in the products it’s processing, including aluminum, copper, tin, and steel.