A new species of bacteria extracts precious metals from electronic waste. Technology has reached the commercial level

At the end of March 2025, it became known that Techbuyer, which is engaged in the restoration and resale of servers and other equipment for data centers, began to use Bioscope Technologies bioleaching technology. We are talking about using a new type of bacteria to extract precious metals from electronic waste.

According to the resource Datacenter Dynamics, Techbuyer supplies printed circuit boards to the Bioscope bio-processing plant in Cambridge (Britain). Bioscope bioleaching and bio-cleaning technologies involve the use of special bacteria to extract a wide range of precious and non-ferrous metals, including gold, silver, palladium and copper. Subsequently, the reduced metals can be reused in the manufacture of various equipment.

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Фото: Bioscope Technologies

According to Techbuyer estimates, in Britain alone, about 25 million smartphones and mobile phones are thrown away every year. When processing even 1 million, 16 tons of copper, 350 kg of silver, 34 kg of gold and 15 kg of palladium can be extracted from them. There are a wide range of methods used to deal with electronic waste: all of them have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, in chemical leaching, harmful and non-recyclable acids may be used to recover precious metals. Bioleaching offers an alternative to other recovery technologies with virtually zero harmful emissions.

Techbuyer has been pushing the circular economy for years. Bioscope is an excellent partner for e-waste recycling, as the company is at the forefront of using advanced materials recovery technologies at the end of the life of IT equipment, says Astrid Wynne, Head of Sustainability at Techbuyer.[1]

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