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Innovative gold extraction brings new shine to e-waste recycling, says Chinese-European team

  • Scientists from China and Europe use efficient and low-cost graphene product to extract gold from disused electronics
  • Technology may be applied on a large scale to mine tailings and electroplating waste water and could aid global gold sustainability

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Chinese and European scientists used a graphene product to extract gold from e-waste, sparking hopes of making the recycling of disused phones, computers and household goods more profitable and attractive. Photo: Shutterstock
Ling Xin
Scientists from China and Europe say they have discovered a highly efficient, low-cost way of extracting gold from electronic waste.
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From smartphones and laptops to televisions and washing machines, the world dumps tens of millions of tonnes of e-waste every year. Less than 20 per cent of it is recycled.

The team used cheap graphene products to develop a simple process which they said extracted nearly 100 per cent gold – and only gold – from electronic waste.

“We hope this technology will increase the economic returns of e-waste recycling, and even build it into a profitable business in the future,” said lead researcher Su Yang from Tsinghua University’s International Graduate School in Shenzhen.

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In a series of experiments reported in the journal Nature Communications, Su and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences soaked specially prepared graphene in solutions that contained tiny amounts of ions of various e-waste metals, such as gold, copper and iron.

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