Recycling e-waste with microbes  – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Recycling e-waste with microbes  – Springwise

Spotted: According to Statista, more than 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste are generated every year. And as the world becomes increasingly digitised and reliant on technology, this is only set to increase. Often, this e-waste ends up in developing countries, where electronics are burned on a mass scale to reveal precious metals, releasing extremely harmful toxic gases. 

But now, New Zealand company Mint Innovation has devised an eco-friendly multi-step process for breaking down e-waste. The technology uses low-cost and low-impact biorefineries that extract valuable metals from scrap circuit boards so they may be reused, reducing future need for mined materials. 

First, electronic circuit boards are ground up. If metals can’t be retrieved using electrochemistry, Mint dissolves the precious metals using its proprietary green chemistry – chemistry that either reduces or completely eliminates the use or “generation of hazardous substances”.  

The company then recovers metals from the solution with a bioabsorption process, whereby special microbes added to the solution absorb the metals. A centrifuge separates metals from the microbes and these extracted materials are then refined into pure metals, ready to be repurposed and resold as items like jewellery or new electronics.  

Although Mint has been focused on recycling electronic devices and scrap circuit boards so far, the technology could also be used in the recycling of batteries and catalysts on a large scale. 

Other e-waste innovations spotted by Springwise include clean e-waste recycling and mineral processing, the world’s first fully recyclable computer chip substrate, and a project where gamers can return their e-waste for Minecraft coins.

Written By: Matilda Cox

Reference

A telecom recycles smartphones to improve accessibility and reduce e-waste
CategoriesSustainable News

A telecom recycles smartphones to improve accessibility and reduce e-waste

Spotted: As just about everyone is aware, owning a smartphone is now a necessity. Smartphones are vital not only for communication, but for conducting business, farming, shopping, and banking. Yet new smartphones can be expensive, pushing them out of reach for many. According to some reports, the global average cost of a smartphone is around 26 per cent of the average monthly income, and in some regions, the average person would have to spend over half of their monthly income to buy a smartphone.

South African telecomms company Vodacom is hoping to make smartphones accessible to everyone with their ‘Good as New’ programme. Good as New offers used Apple iphones for sale at a fraction of the cost of a new model. The phones come complete with a standard 12-month warranty, and the devices are approved for resale. The programme involves the refurbishment and recycling of 200,000 phones by 2025, reducing e-waste as well as cost.

Vodacom also plans to expand the number and type of phones it revamps and resells, bringing in additional pre-owned products at lower price points. The company points out that the COVID-19 pandemic forced individuals to find creative ways to continue working and learning, making affordable access to smartphones even more vital. Digital access is also a particularly important issue in South Africa, which has some of the least affordable mobile phone prices in the world.

Smartphones are a lifeline for many – especially those in regions that are poorly served by land-based communications. Springwise has seen some exciting innovations in the use of mobile technology, including an app that lets micro-merchants turn their phone into a point-of-sale system, and a platform that connects smallholder farmers with the marketplace, helping them earn more. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Website: vodacom.co.za

Contact: vodacom.co.za/ContactUs

Reference