--- title: "New Technique to Extract Gold From Old Electronics Could Make a Fortune, Scientists Say" description: "Researchers have devised a novel way to extract gold from electronic waste, a sustainable method that is based on a food industry byproduct." date: "2024-03-04" modified: "2024-03-04" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/extract-gold-old-electronics-fortune" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "e-waste" - "gold" - "recycling" - "the digest" --- # New Technique to Extract Gold From Old Electronics Could Make a Fortune, Scientists Say ![Researchers have devised a novel way to extract gold from electronic waste, a sustainable method that is based on a food industry byproduct.]() *\Image: ETH Zurich / Alan Kovacevic\* ## Waste to Gold A team of researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland has made a discovery that they say could turn recycling e-waste into a literal goldmine. The researchers [devised a novel way]() to extract precious metal from electronic waste, a sustainable method that is based on a byproduct from the food industry. And it's pretty lucrative as well. For each dollar spent, the team suggests you could make $50 worth of gold. Best of all, they say, it's an incredibly environmentally friendly process. The team found that protein fibril sponges, made from protein-rich byproducts from cheesemaking, can be used to extract the gold from discarded e-waste. "The fact I love the most is that we’re using a food industry byproduct to obtain gold from electronic waste," said coauthor and ETH Zurich professor Raffaele Mezzenga in a [statement](). "You can’t get much more sustainable than that!" ## Gold Thumb As detailed in a [new paper]() published in the journal *Advanced Materials*, the team was able to recover a 450-milligram nugget of 22-carat gold from just 20 old computer motherboards. To do it, the team denatured whey proteins under acidic conditions and high temperatures to create a slurry of protein nanofibrils. They then dried this gel to create a sponge. After dissolving the metal parts of the 20 motherboards and ionizing them in a bath, they placed the sponge in the solution to attract the gold ions. By heating their sponge, the team reduced the collected ions into flakes, and eventually melted them into a tiny gold nugget. This 450-milligram nugget was 91 percent gold and nine percent copper. At current rates per ounce, that's roughly $33 of gold. According to the team, the energy costs present a mere 50th of the value of the gold that can be recovered, making it an incredibly profitable process if scaled up. Now, the researchers are looking for ways to market their idea, and for other protein-rich byproducts that could be transformed into sponges. According to the World Health Organization, e-waste is the [fastest-growing solid waste stream]() in the world, with millions of electrical devices being discarded and thrown away. Without being recycled properly, this waste is not only incredibly harmful to the environment, but it can also be toxic to humans. In short, incentivizing the recycling of e-waste can only be a good thing. **More on e-waste:** *[Scientists Say Recycling Has Backfired Spectacularly]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()