The Royal Mint has initiated a groundbreaking process of extracting gold from old phones and TVs to create commemorative coins and jewelry, hailed as a "world first."
The UK's coinmaker has launched a factory in South Wales, capable of processing up to 4,000 tonnes of printed circuit boards from e-waste annually.
Anne Jessopp, Royal Mint's chief executive, said the company is "transforming for the future" and that the opening of its Precious Metals Recovery factory "marks a pivotal step in our journey."
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In addition to recycling the circuit boards it receives, the Royal Mint is also working towards receiving entire items - computers, mobile phones, server equipment - to be involved in the full recycling process.This initiative follows a recent UN report highlighting that e-waste is increasing five times faster than e-waste recycling, with an 82 percent jump from 2010 to a record 62 million tonnes in 2022.The UK is among the worst offenders per capita, according to Mark Loveridge, business unit director at Precious Metals Recovery.
Mr. Loveridge stated the factory processes, which aim to reduce mining, were a "world first."He noted that the UK's amount of e-waste is "the equivalent of about 25 kilos a person," or the weight of a 50-inch TV.
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It takes around 600 mobile phones to create one of the rings from the Mint's 886 collection, which weighs around 7.5g—similar to the weight of a £1 coin. On average, one tonne of circuit boards produces 165gm of gold, equating to around £9,000.
