A new ‘microfactory’ that can cheaply extract valuable metals such as gold, silver, palladium, and copper from printed circuit boards in crushed electronic waste (e-waste) has been successfully developed by researchers at Australia’s University of New South Wales, the university announced.

In a paper describing the equipment and the outcomes of its pilot testing, the research team led by UNSW Professor Veena Sahajwalla were seeking a way to improve the processing of e-waste – primarily discarded electronic devices such as cell phones and computers – which is difficult to recycle because of the presence of a number of toxic materials, and the complicated mix of various materials.

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