The progressive depletion of metalprimary sources has led to the search for alternative sources, such as metal recovery. E-waste, also known as waste from electrical and electronic equipment, is a solid waste that accumulates quickly due to thehigh demand for replacing electrical and electronic products with newer versions. The global e-waste generation is estimated to be between 53.6 million tons, and it is increasing by 3–5% per year. The experimental analysis conducted on printed circuit boards (PCB) indicated the abundance of precious metals in electronic waste. This review addresses issues related to chemical and biological extraction techniques and proposes a hybridmethodology that incorporates both, also with safer chemicals and compatible microbes for better and efficient extraction of metals from the E-waste.
Keywords: depletion; sources; extraction; precious; metals
I. INTRODUCTION
Several metals both, base and precious metals are used in making essential components of electronic devices. The properties of these metals make them ideal for recycling and reuse yet, studies have it that only 15-20% of electronic devices are recycled. This shows a huge volume of untapped valuable metals that could be reused instead of sitting in landfills. Effectively recovering metals from these devices could have multiple economic and ecological benefits,ranging from reducing the economic burden of electronics recycling to reducing the demand for ore mining.
