Britain to get first commercial refinery for extracting precious metals from e-waste

The UK is to get its first commercial refinery for extracting precious metals from electronic waste, which will also be the world’s first to use bacteria rather than cyanide-based processes. A New Zealand startup, Mint Innovation, plans to open the facility within 12 months in Cheshire. When the Commons environmental audit committee launched its inquiry into e-waste and the circular economy last year, its then chair, Mary Creagh, criticised the UK’s “unsustainable” approach to e-waste and called for radical action.

Full story via The Guardian.