The Royal Mint of the UK now extracts gold to make coins from discarded circuit boards
Image by The Royal Mint
The Royal Mint of the UK is one of the world’s leading coin producers as it produces all coins in circulation within the UK and 60 other countries around the world. With a history of over 1,100 years, the Royal Mint has developed into a state-of-the-art, modern, and innovative manufacturer over the years.
In its latest initiative towards sustainability in line with the Circular Electronics Partnership founded by the World Economic Forum and five other international organizations, a partnership to reduce electric waste, the Royal Mint now extracts gold from discarded circuit boards to produce its coins, helping reduce tons of electric waste being discarded into nature.
This initiative conducted in collaboration with Excir, a start-up with patented technology to extract precious metals from e-waste, allows the Royal Mint to extract 99% of gold in old circuits. The Royal Mint expects to expand this technology to more precious metals such as palladium, silver, and copper.
Other similar initiatives around the world include Egypt’s E-Tadweer app which allows consumers to exchange their unwanted electrical items for vouchers, Singapore’s national policy that requires producers to collect broken and end-of-life electrical items and direct them for repair, reuse, or recycling processes, and the policy adopted by a majority of US states that require producers to make available necessary spare-parts to repair damaged equipment instead of discarding these items.
