RQMP Research Seminar

Recovery of value from e-waste

Maria Holuszko

The Urban Mining Innovation Centre
Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering
University of British Columbia

Electronic waste is the fastest growing type of waste, with an estimated 3­4% growth, reaching over 50 Mt of e-waste every year. In addition, electronic devices have been shown to contain gold and copper grades that exceed the grades of many operating mines. The recycling of metals from e-waste is studied under the urban mining discipline and provides opportunities for the recovery of many valuable metals and critical materials. The development of methods for e-waste recycling and for the recovery of metals from electronic waste is wide-ranging, interesting, and technically challenging, yet not a lot of fundamental research is dedicated to study the best approaches for the recovery of value from this waste stream.

The Urban Mining Innovation Centre of Mining Engineering at UBC is engaged in the research related to the recovery of value from municipal and industrial waste, and includes major projects in e-waste recycling. The major projects are related to LED recycling, the recovery of the non-metal fraction from printed circuit boards and cellphones, and the recovery of Au from electronics using environmentally friendly techniques, using of eco-friendly reagents. This seminar will showcase recent research in the area of urban mining at UBC-UMIC, focusing on e-waste recycling that is dedicated to the development of safer, economically viable, and more environmentally friendly recycling techniques that minimize losses of material and lessen the environmental impact. This will also include an exploration of novel, non-conventional, and alternative techniques for the extraction of valuable metals and less valuable components such as non-metal and plastic fractions e-waste for further utilization.

Selected Publications:
[1] Holuszko, Maria. E., Leeder, W. Ross, Mackay Melanie, Giroux, Louis, MacPhee, Tony, Ng Ka Wing, Dexter, Heather., Effects of organic liquids on coking properties of a higher-inert Western Canadian coal, Fuel Processing Technology, volume 155, January 2017, pp. 225-231.
[2] Kumar, Amit and Holuszko, Maria, Electronic Waste and Existing Processing Routes: A Canadian Perspective, Resources, 5, 35, November 2016, pp. 1-19.
[3] Holuszko, Marian E. and Mastalerz, Maria D. Coal macerals chemistry and its implications for selectivity in coal floatability. International Journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization, 35 (2) 2015, pp.99-110.