US industrial automation company Rockwell Automation is working with The Royal Mint to design, build, and commission a facility to safely recover valuable metals from electronic products.
The Royal Mint announced its new factory, which it says is a world-first, earlier this year. When fully operational in 2023, the 3,500m2 facility to be built in South Wales is expected to process up to 90 tons of UK-sourced circuit boards per week.
Rockwell Automation says the Royal Mint is using patented chemistry to recover more than 99% of gold and other materials from electronic waste contained within the circuit boards of discarded laptops and mobile phones.
Building on a 15-year relationship with The Royal Mint, Rockwell Automation’s Lifecycle Services team says it is delivering a multi-million-pound turnkey process design and PlantPAx® distributed control system to help reduce the environmental impact of e-waste management in the UK, supporting The Royal Mint in meeting its broader sustainability goals.
The potential of this technology is huge – reducing the impact of electronic waste, preserving precious commodities, and forging new skills which help drive a circular economy.
In the process, the circuit boards are fed via a conveyor system into a reactor and the resulting sludge then undergoes separation, sorting, and filtering to deliver the reclaimed metals.
UK Managing Director at Rockwell Automation, Phil Hadfield, said: “The wealth of knowledge and capability that Rockwell Automation has, allows us to ensure that this facility is as efficient, viable, and user-friendly as possible.
“We are proud to continue our working relationship with The Royal Mint to create a new source of high-quality precious metals for the business and help with the global challenge of electrical waste.”
Rockwell Automation says that when fully scaled up the new purpose-built facility will ensure all e-waste processed on-site is handled in a controlled and regulated manner.
The industrial automation company says the process is aligned with circular economy principles and the planned recovery of precious metals and other materials will help to preserve natural resources, reduce the environmental impact of smelting the UK’s e-waste, and foster new skills and employment in South Wales.
Chief Growth Officer at The Royal Mint, Sean Millard, said: “This technology provides us with the opportunity to make a genuine impact on one of the world’s greatest environmental challenges while helping to secure our future as a leader in high-quality, sustainable precious metals.
“The potential of this technology is huge – reducing the impact of electronic waste, preserving precious commodities, and forging new skills which help drive a circular economy.”