Recycling copper and gold from e-waste by a two-stage leaching and solvent extraction process

The recycling of metals such as gold and copper from discarded end-of-life electronic waste (e-waste or WEEE) is an important aspect to the development of environmentally benign manufacturing processes that exhibit circularity in materials flow. Global e-waste production is increasing at a 3-5% rate, so it is concerning that only 30% is recycled using regulated processes. We present here a new hydrometallurgical route for the technically feasible recycling of copper and gold from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) of mobile phones. This process comprises the liberation of the metallic fractions from downsized WPCBs, a two-stage acid leaching process to provide a bulk separation of copper and gold from the other metals present, and subsequent purification of the copper and gold-containing solutions by solvent extraction using highly selective phenolic oxime and amide extractants, respectively. Complete dissolution of the base metals was seen using 3 M nitric acid at 30 degrees C and the selective separation of copper from this leach liquor was achieved by solvent extraction using ACORGA M5640 dissolved in kerosene. The residues from base-metal leaching were treated with a mixture of 3 M sulfuric acid and 3 M sodium bromide at 70 degrees C, resulting in greater than 95% gold dissolution. The selective separation of gold from this precious metal leachate was achieved by solvent extraction using 0.1 M tertiary amide extractant dissolved in toluene. This process delivers complete copper and gold recycling from WPCBs under relatively benign laboratory conditions and represents a proof of concept for liberating valuable and critical metals back into active service from end-of-life electronic devices.