The Royal Mint has partnered with NCAB Group UK in an innovative collaboration aimed at supporting sustainability and reducing electronic waste. This partnership is part of NCAB’s journey to net zero, led by Sales Director Helen Bicknell and Business Support Director Ann Harwood.

As part of this initiative, The Royal Mint will process scrap circuit boards, recovering valuable natural resources and reducing the environmental impact of electronic waste. This effort also aims to create new skills and employment opportunities in the UK, pushing forward the boundaries of sustainability.

This collaboration aligns with The Royal Mint’s larger commitment to revolutionizing electronic waste recycling. The Mint recently introduced a world-first technology in partnership with Canadian clean-tech start-up Excir, capable of recovering over 99% of gold from electronic waste, such as discarded laptops and mobile phones.

Excir’s patented technology uses groundbreaking chemistry to selectively target and extract precious metals from circuit boards in seconds. By recovering valuable materials like gold, silver, copper, and palladium at room temperature, the Royal Mint aims to significantly reduce the global impact of electronic waste. With over 50 million tonnes of electronic waste produced annually, the need for sustainable solutions is more critical than ever.

This process, initially used at The Royal Mint’s facility in South Wales, has already produced gold with a purity of 999.9. Once fully scaled, it will also recover other metals like silver and copper. The Royal Mint and Excir’s collaboration supports the principles of a circular economy, ensuring precious resources are preserved and reused rather than discarded.

With its 1,100-year history of innovation and craftsmanship, The Royal Mint is once again leading the charge—this time, in the quest for sustainability and environmental responsibility.