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ePaper created 2013-08-02, 08:40:53 | version 1.25.20
Research in Jülich 2|201318 W hat contains more gold: the ore in a goldmine, circuit boards in computers, or mobile phones? Astonishingly, 1,000 kilograms of ore contains no more than an average of 5 grams of gold, while 1,000 kilograms of circuit boards in contrast contains 250 grams, and 1,000 kilograms of mobile phones up to 350 grams. As if that weren’t enough, mobile phones and other electronic devices also contain other elements, such as silver, palladium, iridium and copper. In other words, it looks like it would be worth mining electronic waste for gold and other noble metals. However, in practice, recycling is no easy task. The old devices must be collected as effec- tively as possible, sorted and then taken apart. And in addition, electronic waste contains several harmful substances, which must be completely removed and disposed of separately. “For the recycling industry, it’s impor- tant to know what valuable materials are contained in a batch of waste as well as in what quantities,” says Dr. Andrea Mahr from Technology Transfer (T) at For- schungszentrum Jülich. She has been in- volved in numerous discussions with com- panies and associations from the recycling sector as well as the electronics industry since 2011. The reason: she was sounding out the market for an analysis technique developed by scientists at Jülich’s Insti- tute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK) and RWTH Aachen University, originally for a very different application. Hidden Treasures inElectronic Waste Jülich scientists originally developed the measuring technique MEDINA for the non- destructive analysis of the contents of drums with low-level radioactive waste to be sent to the approved final storage facility Schacht Konrad. They are now planning to fit MEDINA up for another task: determining the noble metal content in electronic waste. This would allow recycling companies to discover more efficiently whether it is worthwhile recovering these valuable materials. EXAMINING UNOPENED DRUMS “In 2007, we were trying to find a way to identify the contents of drums contain- ing low-level radioactive waste from in- dustry, research, and medicine without From waste to source of raw materials A tonne of old mobile phones contains material that is worth around € 10,000 in total: 120kg copper 2.5kg silver Projekt Technologie-Transfer