The increasing generation of e-waste represents a major challenge for modern economies. It is now considered to be the fastest growing waste stream globally, with an alarming annual increase of 3-5%. In the EU alone, around 13.5 million tons of electrical and electronic equipment is placedon the market every year, resulting in around 4.9 million tons of e-waste. Projections show that this figure could rise to 74.7 million tons by 2030and a staggering 110 million tons by 2050. Alarmingly, only 22.3% of this waste is currently documented, collected and recycled in an environmentally responsible way. This threatens supply chains and hinders progress towards the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality targets under the EUGreen Deal, decarbonization and the transition to a circular economy. Our project directly addresses these pressing issues by proposing an innovative and sustainable approach for the recovery of basic, strategic and critical raw materials (CRMs) from discarded mobile phones, focusing specifically on printed circuit boards (PCBs) and touchscreens. We present magnetic nano hydrometallurgy as a breakthrough recovery process that provides an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional methods such as traditional hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy and bioleaching. The main components of mobile phone PCBs, including copper, aluminum, magnesium, nickel, silver, cobalt and rare earths, are in urgent need of recovery. Our method also includes the cost-effective recovery of indium, yttrium and other valuable metals from LCD screens. Our project focuses on the development of environmentally friendly magnetic polysaccharide nanocomposites (MNPs@PS) equipped with specific functional groups (e.g. sulphate and phosphate) to improve the efficiency of metal recovery. These nanocomposites will facilitate the simultaneous extraction and adsorption of several valuable metals while enabling their regeneration and recycling into new high-value material alloys. Furthermore, SURERECYCLE will investigate the fundamental effects on extraction and adsorption efficiency for different metals. In addition to metal recovery, SURERECYCLE will utilize metal-enriched MNPs@PS as secondary raw materials for advanced electrochemical sensors capable of detecting endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as BPA, BPS, estradiol and sertraline in environmental samples. These pollutants pose a significant health risk even at low concentrations and require the development of improved analytical sensor technologies. Our sensors aim to outperform existing technologies by offering lower detection limits, higher sensitivity and selectivity over broader concentration ranges. This project exemplifies our commitment to sustainability through the principles of green chemistry and aims to develop a technology that significantly reduces environmental impact while creating economic value. To verify the sustainability of both the developed sensors and the recovery processes, we will conduct lifecycle analyzes and life cycle cost analyzes. The expected results will deepen our understanding of electrochemical sensing for EDCs and provide important scientific insights through publications in high-impact open access journals. By addressing the pressing issue of e-waste management while improving the ability to monitor contaminants, we aim to strengthen supply chains and promote environmental protection in line with the objectives of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act for recycling and self-sufficiency. To realize this ambitious project, 6 Slovenian partners with outstanding expertise in their respective fields have joined forces, including leading (nano)material scientists, experts in analytical electrochemistry, recyclers from the waste industry and experts in life cycle analysis. SURERECYCLE’s innovative approach not only addresses critical environmental challenges, but also positions us at the forefront of the development of resource recovery and sensor technologies.
