Cheese to Gold: Unveiling the Discovery
In a surprising twist, researchers have uncovered a remarkable method for recovering gold from discarded electronics, boasting an impressive return on investment. Utilizing an unexpected ingredient sourced from the cheese-making process, scientists at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, have devised a sustainable and cost-effective approach to extracting gold from electronic waste or e-waste.
Raffaele Mezzenga, one of the researchers involved in the study, expressed his enthusiasm for the innovative process, noting the irony of using a food industry byproduct to obtain precious metals from electronic waste. The key ingredient? Whey, the watery portion of milk leftover during cheese production. By transforming this dairy waste into a matrix of protein amyloid fibrils, the researchers successfully developed a method to selectively remove gold from e-waste.
A Game-Changing Solution: Commercial Viability
The researchers demonstrated the commercial viability of their method in a groundbreaking paper. Accounting for both material procurement costs and energy expenses throughout the process, they found that the total cost of recovering 1 gram of gold from e-waste was a mere fraction of the value of the gold recovered – a staggering fifty-fold reduction in cost.
Addressing E-Waste Crisis: A Global Challenge
With e-waste comprising a significant portion of global landfill trash and toxic waste, accounting for a mere 2 percent of America's landfills but a staggering 70 percent of overall toxic waste, the need for sustainable solutions is urgent. In 2019 alone, the World Health Organization reported a staggering 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste produced globally, with only a fraction formally collected and recycled. The discovery from ETH Zurich offers a promising step towards addressing this environmental challenge.
Towards a Greener Future: Expanding Possibilities
Looking ahead, the researchers are gearing up to bring their innovative technology to the market. While e-waste serves as a promising initial source for gold extraction, they are already exploring other avenues, including industrial waste from microchip manufacturing or gold-plating processes. This ambitious endeavor holds the potential to revolutionize how we approach waste management and resource recovery, offering a glimpse into a more sustainable future.
https://www.techno-science.net/news/cheese-key-ingredient-in-extracting-gold-from-electronic-waste-N24622.html
