Recovering Metals from Electronic Waste

End-of-life electronic devices such as smartphones, computers, televisions, and other electronics contain significant amounts of valuable metals including base metals (zinc, tin, lead, nickel, and copper), precious metals (silver, gold, and palladium), and rare earth magnets (neodymium, yttrium, samarium). Some electronic scrap is currently landfilled or incinerated, and there is a need to develop more effective processes to capture these valuable metals along with keeping them out of the environment.