Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Review

Advances in sustainable approaches to recover metals from e-waste-A

review
Aminul Islam a, b, *, Tofayal Ahmed a, b, Md. Rabiul Awual c, Aminur Rahman a,
Monira Sultana a, Azrina Abd Aziz d, Minhaj Uddin Monir a, Siow Hwa Teo e,
Mehedi Hasan a, b
a
Department of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, 7408, Bangladesh
b
Clean Energy and CO2 Capture Lab, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, 7408, Bangladesh
c
Materials Science and Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Hyogo, 679e5148, Japan
d
Faculty of Civil Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26300, Gambang, Malaysia
e
Catalysis Science and Technology Research Centre, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: For the rapid growth of population electrical and electronics equipment waste are generated 20 to 50
Received 27 April 2019 million tones in world-wide. Half a tonne of e-waste creates by the resident of advanced country in every
Received in revised form year. E-waste contains different toxic substances including metals, plastics and refractory oxides which
17 September 2019
are hazardous or risky for our environment and human wellbeing, thus e-waste management is an
Accepted 9 October 2019
Available online 11 October 2019
essential. Hence, this review outlined the global status of e-waste and its current progress on man-
agement worldwide. An exhaustive survey of literature was made on the latest technological approaches
Handling Editor: Lei Shi in noble and base metals recovery from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) of electrical and electronic
equipment. An emphasis was given to review the most important features of existing industrial routes
Keywords: associated with the metal recovery systems from PCBs. The discussions of green technologies as alter-
E-waste natives of conventional approaches to obtain precious metals from e-waste were overviewed. The
Green technology application of microbial bioleaching approaches in the extraction metals from e-waste was highlighted.
Bioleaching leaching Finally, the concern for the challenges and barriers associated with the e-waste management process in
Precious metals
Bangladesh was outlined.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Consequence of E-waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. World management process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Current industrial process for metal recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.1. Recovery of ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.2. Recovery of gold (Au) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.3. Recovery of silver (Ag), cupper (Cu) tin (Sn) and nickel (Ni) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5. Biological process for metal recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.1. Mechanisms of biological method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2. Bioleaching mechanisms of bacteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.3. Bioleaching mechanisms of fungi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
6. E-waste scenario and practice in Bangladesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

* Corresponding author. Department of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Jes-

sore University of Science and Technology, Jessore, 7408, Bangladesh.
E-mail addresses: aminul_pme@just.edu.bd, aminul03211@yahoo.com
(A. Islam).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118815
0959-6526/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815
7. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1. Introduction
The massive generation of electronic waste is the top environ-
mental issues in recent years. It may be mentioned that most of the
e-waste disposed in to the landfill sites informally. The production
of e-waste globally per year is roughly about 40 million metric tons,
which comprise 5% of the total solid wastes worldwide (Hazra et al.,
2019). In the European Union, e-waste production about 9 million
tons discarded from phones, televisions and computers (Pahari and
Dubey, 2019). United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
estimated that the cell phone e-waste is expected to increase
eighteen times, e-waste from computer will be about five times and
discard television will be two times higher by the year 2020 (Leung,
2019).
With the advancements of compatibility issues, electronics and
marketing attractive consumer design, the life cycle of many elec-
tronic products has considerably been reduced. The present world
metals prices of precious-metals is shown in Table 1. A new com-
puter’s average life cycle has diminished starting 4.5 years in 1992
which reduced to 2 years in 2005 (Widmer et al., 2005). It was
reported by Balde
et al. (2017) that approximately 49.8 million tons
of e-waste was attained worldwide and was determined to ascend
to 51.8 million tons by 2020. The biggest quantity of e-waste using
top six countries were Japan, China, USA, India, Russia and Germany
until the end of 2011 which shown in below Fig. 1A. Fig. 1B repre-
sents the generation of different categories of e-waste from 2013 to
2021. Medical devices are the largest categories of e-waste gener-
ated amounting about 16.8 million tons and LED lamps was
generated lowest of about 0.7 million ton as can be seen in Fig. 1B.
According to the annual estimation of 2016, China is the top e-
waste generated country and generated about 7.2 million metric
tons and United States is lower than China and about 6.3 million
metric tons (Fig. 1C). Asia was the biggest electronic waste gener-
ated continent where America, Europe, Africa and Oceania were
generated 11.7 Mt, 11.6 Mt, 1.9 Mt, 0.6 Mt respectively (Kumar et al.,
2017).
E-waste encompasses valuable metals, alongside numerous
dangerous materials. An enormous number of dangerous metals
(Cd, Hg, Pb, Cr) from e-waste may contribute to increase the toxicity
levels of ecosystem (Qu et al., 2019). The long term persistent of e-
waste in the environment may increase the exposure risk of haz-
ardous materials. Serious pollution of ground water and human
health could be associated with these hazardous materials. One of
the important routes to enter toxic chemicals from e-waste to hu-
man body is the soil-crop-food pathway. Toxicity, negative envi-
ronmental impact as well as financial reimbursements from e-
Table 1
Precious metals present world prices.
Precious metals
Gold
Platinum
Palladium
Rhodium
Copper
Silver
waste are necessitated the need for a metal recovery from e-waste.
The utilization of e-waste could be a potential secondary source of
precious and base metals (Otto et al., 2018). More than ten times
higher purity of precious metals in waste printed circuit boards
compared to the rich ore content attract the attention to extract
noble metal from e-waste. Hence, the extraction of noble metals
(Au, Pt, Pd, Ta, Te, Ge, Se) from e-waste should be given major
priorities. However, the realization of recycling should be the basis
of maximum recovery and minimum negative impact to the
environment.
Numerous reviews on e-waste recycling and noble metal
extraction have already been published, however these review ar-
ticles are largely limited to focus on scattered data of e-waste
generation, management (Dias et al., 2018), environmental and
social impacts of waste electronics and electrical equipment
(WEEE) (Pini et al., 2019), future perspectives on WEEE generation
(Yong et al., 2019) and economic evaluation for sustainable recy-
cling (Ravindra et al., 2019) with very few attempts to critically
routes associated with the metal recovery systems.
Therefore, it is necessary to create a common component of the
information in the recent emerging research area of practices for
waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) recycling. An exhaustive survey
of literature was made on the latest chemical approaches in noble
and base metals recovery from PCBs. The green bioleaching or
biosorption process alternative to conventional approaches to
obtain metals from PCBs were also overviewed. Important advan-
tages, disadvantages and environmental consequence of various
technological approaches were discussed. An emphasis was given
to review the most important features of existing industrial routes
associated with the metal recovery systems from PCBs. Finally, the
concern for the challenges and barriers associated with the e-waste
management process in Bangladesh was outlined.
2. Consequence of E-waste
Without knowing the hurtful impact, E-waste has been dis-
carded in the open wellsprings of water bodies, the agricultural
land and open landfills by unconscious social people. For the open
disposal of the e-waste containing toxic substances in water bodies
and landfills pollutes the ground water (Ouabo et al., 2019), as
shown in Fig. 2. The ground water can be contaminated by seeping
of poisons derived from dumped e-waste. When cadmium con-
taining plastics and brominated flame retardant plastic are filled on
land, both cadmium and poly-brominated di-phenyl ethers (PBDE)
might be leached into the ground water. The toxic substances are
mixed with soil and move inside the plants. People take this plant
as a food and then affected by hazardous diseases and take the toxic
substances in to body through respiratory system. Cathode ray
tubes contained glass is a broken lead containing glass which dis-
solves significant amount of lead (Pb) are a mutual existence in
Prices in dollar($) landfills and gets mixed with acid waters (Sthiannopkao and Wong,
2013). Reproductive and endocrine systems, kidney, bones and the
1306.10
916.65 nervous systems etc. are damaged by long period exposure to this
989.80 material. Both of vital components and health of the ecology are
2240.00 faced a critical problem and poses a threat for environment by
3.06 disposal of E-waste (Guo et al., 2018). To overcome this problem
16.59
and to protect our environment and health from toxic substances of
 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815
(B)
Fig. 1. (A) Top six e-waste generated country and quantity, (B) Global e-waste generation by categories (Balde
electronic waste, it should be maintained and manage properly
worldwide.
3. World management process
Different laws, rules and legislation of e-waste followed by
different developed country for proper management of electronic
waste are given in Fig. 3. Each country followed their favorable
process for electronic waste management is shown in Table 2.
Different steps as like extended producer responsibility are taken to
overcome the problem of e-waste by developed countries.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) (2000) defined as the
manufacturer of the product will take back the final disposal
product. Reducing waste and low consumption of natural resource
are the main objective of EPR. Lindhqvist (2000) discussed on the
EPR policy and adopted a policy to prevent environmental degra-
dation. General electronic waste management system followed
different countries is represented in Fig. 4.
It can be seen that the electronic waste are separated into metals
and plastic parts by using gravity/mechanical separation. Different
3
(A)
(C)

et al., 2017), (C) Asian E-waste generated country 2015.
valuable metals including iron, aluminum, plastics, copper palla-
dium, gold, copper, silver etc. can be obtained by the disposal of
other part of e-waste. The plastic parts can be recycled and con-
verted into plastic bottles and converted into energy through
incineration, pyrolysis and gasification (Fig. 4). The conversion of
plastic component of e-waste into fuel through pyrolysis could be
one of the options for recycling (Jayaraman et al., 2019). Around
71e51% oil can be produced by pyrolysis of plastic part of e-waste at
430e460
C. Moreover, heat or energy can also be obtained through
incineration process.
Deposit-refund schemes including advance recycling fee (ARF),
advance disposal fee (ADF) should be included for e-waste man-
agement. ARF generally imposes tax on the sale of the e-waste to
cover the cost of recycling and ADF is the funds generated to pay for
the cost of disposing of e-waste. ARF can be assessed per unit of the
product sold on a weight basis (Zarei et al., 2018). E-waste man-
agement technology package involving treatment and recovery of
valuable metals should be needed. Mainly three steps are required
for completing the treatment of E-waste. In the first step, electronic
waste is contributed and created raw materials for second step
4 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815
Fig. 2. Environmental, groundwater and health hazards of electronic waste.
through the process; refining, disassembling, separation. All the
separation methods are occurred in the second step after the
physical separation of electronic waste. In the third step, recycling
and recovery procedures are followed to recover valuable metals
from electronic waste. By following laws and regulations of
developed country, the best result can be obtained from the elec-
tronic waste management.
4. Current industrial process for metal recovery
Large amount of e-waste has been produced in recent year due
to the development of information technology. It was reported by
Rangreez and Asiri (2019) that the production of e-waste has
reached to 50 million/year recently. The recovered amount of e-
waste is only 20% of the total production. It might be mentioned
that the materials disposed from e-waste contribute the 70% of
total toxic materials to the environment. Thus, recycling of e-waste
is important and useful to protect our environment. Currently,
dismantling and granulation processes have been used industrially
to separate various types of metals and components (Kaya, 2018).
Industrial scale granulation machines are applied to grind materials
down to 0.177 mm to 5 cm in size. These granulators are utilized for
the recuperation of plastics, non-ferrous and heterogeneous ma-
terials (Fig. 5A). Fractionator plants are utilized to recoup metals
from e-squander in a mechanical manner. Increasing speeds and
decelerations instrument are utilized in the fractionator mills to
recuperate materials as indicated by their physical properties
(Fig. 5B). Recently industrial scale circuit board recycling machines
have been introduced to separate Cu metals and resin powder,
shown in Fig. 5C. High recovery rate and purity of metals (98%) are
the main strength of these machines. Drum type disassembling
machines are utilized to separate metals and non-metals from
printed circuit board. Capacity of this machines are ranges from 200
to 500 kg/h (Fig. 5D). Integration of heat with tunnel type
dismantling machines is introduced to recover metals from e-
waste. Dust casing part is incorporated in tunnel type dismantling
machines to prevent environmental pollution (Fig. 5E). Effective
separation of conductive and non-conductive fractions can be
performed by rotor type corona electrostatic machines. No waste
water and gaseous emission are generated by using these machines
(Fig. 5F). Powerful magnetic field connect with eddy current sep-
arators is used to separate non-ferrous metals from e-waste. Cu, Al
and other nonferrous metals from industrial e-waste are separated
by using eddy current separators (Fig. 5G). All the physical sepa-
rators are required basic apparatuses and low investment cost. In
any case, the long detachment time, health and safety issue because
of residue introduction are the fundamental problem of physical
separation process. Therefore, it is required to search for an envi-
ronmentally cordial disassembling process. As of late, different
modern procedures utilized internationally for recuperating spe-
cific parts from e-squander are the Umicore’s process, MüllerGut-
tenbrunn Group (MGG)-Austria, Eldan recycling in Zaragoza
eSpain, Daimler Benz in UlmeGermany, NEC Group-Japan, LS-
Nikko’s recycling facility-Korea, Day’s patent and Aleksandrovich
patent. Summary of current industrial process for recovery of
metals from e-waste is provided in Table 3. The combination of
solvent extraction, leaching, precipitation, ion exchange, pyro and
hydro metallurgy were used to recover metal and non-metal from
e-waste. The ongoing progression on the procedure to isolate
specific segment from ewaste has been discussed in subsequent
sections.
4.1. Recovery of ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), platinum (Pt) and
palladium (Pd)
Ruthenium (Ru), Rhodium (Rh), Platinum (Pt) and Palladium
(Pd) fractions were separated from e-waste using hydrometallur-
gical, pyrometallurgical, electrometallurgical processes. To enhance
the recycling efficiency and reduce reactants consumption, pyro-
metallurgical process could be a good option. Attention needs to be
paid on the gas purification systems for dioxin, furans, disposal of
waste gas and slags. It is not possible with any of the processes to
possess simultaneously a high extraction efficiency, recyclability
and inexpensive extraction process. Certainly, a compromise needs
to be reached in each case, as shown in Table 4. Chlorination and
cyanidation systems are used in the conventional hydrometallurgy
process to separate the precious group metals, as shown in Fig. 6.
Although hydrometallurgical process has some disadvantages,
 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815 5

Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (1989)

on the management of waste household electrical and electronic products
recycling and disposal (2004)
China methods on pollution prevention in electric industry (2005)
of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products (WEEE) on environment
established notification (2003).
disposal and recovering of electronic-waste management ordinance (2005).

8 August 2011, the ‘Product Stewardship Act 2011’

Austr-
Computer and Television Recovering Structure’ turned to
alia influence on November 8, 2011 which consists of the Product Stewardship
(Computers and Televisions) Regulations 2011

for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources (2009)

Japan for the Recycling of Specified of Home Appliances (2003)
waste treatment law.

Waste Recycling Act (2003)

Electronic equipment recycling and reuse Act (2010)
USA waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling Act (2008)
Equipment Recovery Act(2009)
Computer Recycling Act(2009)

recovery regulations (2003)

Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations (2007)
France management framework (2008,2018)
of Hazardous Substances Act (2003)
toxic substances & inter-provincial hazardous waste law

Environmental Protection Act 1986

Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000
India
Hazardous Wastes ( Handling and Transboundary)Rules, 2008
Plastics (Manufacture, Usage and Waste Management) Rules, 2009
E-Waste (Management and Handling Rules) 2011

environment Management Waste Act (2014)

South Conservation Act(1989)
Africa Substances Act(1973)
Health and Safety Act(1993)

Fig. 3. Electronic waste management laws and regulations of different countries (Tansel, 2017; Themelis and Bourtsalas, 2019).

leaching process, liquideliquid extraction, Liquid-oxidant systems
have been raised great attentions recently. In the leaching process,
precious metals are dissolved inaqua regia (3HCl:HNO3), hydrogen
peroxide, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid as a leaching
agent to precipitate platinum group metals (PGM) from e-waste as
summarized in Table 5.
Efforts were concentrated on the precipitation and chromato-
graphic separation of Pd, Ru and Rh from model solution using
phosphonium quaternary salts. An efficient precipitation of Ru was
reported by Mohdee et al. (2018) using quaternary ammonium salt
in chloride and polymer medium. Chromatographic separation was
used to separate Pd and Pt of 99.99% purity. However, high cost and
difficulties of polymer recover using chromatographic separation
process limits their industrial application. The precipitation of
ruthenium complex salt by using changing pH was reported by
Nagai et al. (2017). Palladium (II) was separated from Platinum (IV)
and rhodium (IV) at pH 4.47 using selective adsorption process
(Fig. 7A). A Pt ion from Palladium (II) and Rhodium (IlI) was sepa-
rated at pH 1.00 by selective photocatalytic adsorption process. The
multiple steps of recovery process and high amount of expensive
organic solvents consumption are required in this process.
Several research groups have focused to develop benign
oxidizing agents to recover Ru efficiently from waste. Ruthenium
might preferentially be separated from a solution containing plat-
inum group metals (PGM) by the oxidationedistillation method.
Overall Ru retrieval of 86% was reported by Blicharska et al. (2013)
using H5IO6 as the oxidizing agent. The formation of CCl4 during the
oxidation process causes high radiation field and thus require to
develop more benign process with well-suited diluents. Effective
ruthenium tetroxide was extracted by adsorption into polymer
beads through oxidation process from nitric acid media (Richards
and Mincher, 2017). Conversion of Ru into tetraoxide (RuO4) by
oxidation and recovering from organic solvents were the key
method of Ru separation from waste. However, the formation of
RuO4 species during the recovery process exhibits explosive nature
over 180
C and thus limits its industrial application. The complex
formation of Ru species could be eliminated by coprecipitation with
ferrocyanide with excess Cu2þ at pH 5 ± 1, as follows.
Ru (NO)3þ þ Fe (CN)64/Ru(CN)64
6 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815

Table 2
Electronic waste management procedures in different countries.

Country Electronic waste management process References

United States 1) Landfilling and incineration Lee et al. (2018)

2) Collection, transport, sorting and dismantling
3) Recycling
4) Materials separation(Chemical/Mechanical)
5) Extended producer responsibility(EPR)
China 1) Waste prevention and reduction Ghosh et al. (2016)
2) Formal recycling is mainly associated with mechanical dismantling.
3) Informal recycling using backyard techniques (acid leaching, open burning) to recover noble metals.
4) Refurbishing and repairing of UEEE.
5) Recyclable fraction sold to recyclers
6) Product reuse
7) Energy recovery through incineration
Brazil 1) Formal recycling with low efficiency usually involving low complexity tasks such as dismantling and comminuting Masud et al. (2019)
2) Mechanical and physical separation
3) Specific recycling and refining
European Union 1) Electrical and electronic equipment products redesign Ghosh et al. (2016)
2) Electronic waste collection
3) Precious metals recovery
4) Treatment of metals which contained in electronic waste
5) Banding open filled disposal
United Kingdom 1) Reuse product Ongondo et al. (2011)
2) Metals recovery
3) Treatment(Dismantling, Segregation, Shredding)
4) Life cycle assessment (LCA)
South Korea 1) Reused (12%) Kahhat et al. (2008)
2) Recycled (69%)
3) Landfill or incineration (19%)
Switzerland 1) Return household electronic appliances by exchanging different useable products Ongondo et al. (2011)
2) Disposal in open landfill
Japan 1) Open disposal Kahhat et al. (2008)
2) Collection and transportation
3) Reduce, reuse and recycle
Russia 1) Disposal, Collection, Transportation, Segregation and processing system Ghosh et al. (2016)
2) Precious, Non-ferrous and Ferrous metals recovery (80%)
South Africa 1) Open incineration and open dumping are employed. Ghosh et al. (2016)
2) Crude dismantling and sorting
Australia 1) Proposed national recycling scheme from 2011; Ongondo et al. (2011)
2) Voluntary take-back
3) Mandatory generation, collection and recycling
4) Formal and informal recovery
5) Handling, regulating and preventing WEEE
India 1) Informal recycling using crude techniques to recover noble metals. Ghosh et al. (2016)
2) Refurbishing and repairing of Used electrical and electronic equipment (UEEE).
3) Recyclable fraction is send to corresponding recyclers.
4) Formal recyclers implement Central pollution control board (CPCB) approved techniques.
5) Segregation
6) Dismantling
7) Disposal

The separation of Pd(II) and Pt(IV) has been achieved by solvent
extraction, liquideliquid extraction with an ionic liquid, Poly
(styrenesulfonic acid)-impregnated alginate capsule, 2-
Octylaminopyridine assisted solvent extraction system or poly-
mer inclusion membrane (PIM) based separation. Solvents were
used as organic phase of extraction and the specific solvents of
platinum group metals and its related chemical reaction are shown
in Fig. 7B. Aqueous-organic solution system was suggested by many
researchers as an effective technique to separate Pt and Pd from
spent catalysts. Chloride-thiodiglycolamide solution system was
introduced by Paiva et al. (2014) to separate platinum and palla-
dium. A selective stripping in alamine 336-NaOH-HCl solution
system was reported to be effective process for Pd separation (Rane,
2019). Similarly, Rzelewska-Piekut and Regel-Rosocka (2019)
pointed out the selective separation of Pt, Pd and Rh from
phosphoniumnic-chloride solution. However, most of the PGMs
separation proceeds in the presence of reducing agents. The use of
N,N0 -dimethyl-N,N0 -dicyclohexyltetradecylmalonamide
(DMDCHTDMA) with no added reducing agents was found to be
efficient for the separation of PGMs (Costa et al., 2013). In similar,
Yamada et al. (2019) explored calixarene-based effective extractant
for the separation of Pd and Pt from automotive catalyst. Recently,
4-alkylanilines-HCl solutions system reported by Matsumoto et al.
(2019) was found to be promising for selective recovery of Rh (III).
The highly efficient method for the separation of Rh could be due to
the high stability of Rh/4-alkylaniline ion pairs (Fig. 8). However,
low boiling points of alkylaniline ion pairs and environment impact
have to be taken into consideration for practical application.
4.2. Recovery of gold (Au)
The MacArthur-Forrest process or cyanidation was fairly estab-
lished to extract gold for ores. Adequate quantity of oxygen was
required to progress the reaction. Generally, extraction of gold was
performed by using thiosulfate, cyanide, halide and thiourea, as
shown in Table 6. Alkaline conditions were used to leach out the
cyanide and thiosulfate while acidic conditions were used for
thiourea and halide leaching. The toxicity of cyanide may cause the
long term effect to the environment. Fundamental highlights of
these leaching frameworks are summarized in Fig. 9. Thiosulphate
 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815
Boundaries of System
Treatment of disposal parts
Conversionof Energy
Heat
Pyrolysis
Oil
Gas
Fig. 4. System boundaries illustration for e-waste management (Ikhlayel, 2018; Mourshed et al., 2017).
was recognized as an alternative to cyanide for extraction of gold
from ores. The formation of copper-tetramine during thiosulphate
leaching process is responsible for gold dissolution. Non-toxicity
and cheap are the main strength of thiosulphate for large scale
application. The thionate and oxygen-sulfur complexes were
formed during the industrial thiosulfate leaching process. This
process is particularly applicable to the carbonaceous ores. The
extraction of gold by sodiumbisulphite could be used as a
replacement of thiosulphate.
Resins have a significant influence on the adsorption of gold. A
compressive study was performed by Dong et al. (2019) to inves-
tigate the gold adsorption ability of resin. The improved ability of
gold adsorption was observed at pH lower than 7. Hence, the
alkaline thiosulfate solution was not possible to apply for gold re-
covery. Staying the free electron in polymer matrix at alkaline
condition could be associated with the loss of ion exchange ability
of resin. The high gold adsorption capacity of polyfunctionality
7
Emissions to
water,soil,air
Recovery of energy
Energy for
metals recycling
Non precious
and precious
metal recovery
Recycling
Landfilling/Dumping
anion exchangers at wide range of pH was reported by
(Jermakowicz-Bartkowiak and Kolarz, 2002). The highly effective 1-
ethylenediamine (1EDA) and 1-(2-aminoethyl) piperazine resin
was reported for gold recovery from e-waste (Cyganowski et al.,
2017). However, the degeneration and structural blockage of resin
under acidic condition should be taken into account to improve the
adsorption ability of resin. High purity gold(III) (>98%) was
extracted by using aqueous polyethylene glycol (PEG-
1500)e(NH4)2SO4 two-phase system with chloride ions as
extracting agents (Bulgariu and Bulgariu, 2011). The enhancement
of gold(III) extraction efficiency was reported to be increased by
increasing chloride concentration, which formed with gold stable
anionic complexes (AuCl4), with lower hydration degree. Grosse
et al. (2003) have discussed the simillar phenomenon for the case
of gold separation and reported that the gold and copper could
effectively be separated by using two step stripping process as
shown below. Still, high cost and non-recyclability of extractant
8 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815

D
C

E
F

Fig. 5. Industrial scale physical separator machines for e-waste: A) Industrial scale granulator, B) Industrial size fractionator mill, C) Industrial scale circuit board recycling machines,
D) Drum type dismantling machines, E) Tunnel type dismantling machines, F) Rotor type corona electrostatic machines, G) Industrial machine for separating Cu from e-waste (Kaya
et al., 2018).

limit its large scale application although it has high selectivity and cost to extract 1 kg of gold using aqua regia is $1520 and results in
superb extraction efficiency. 5000 L of waste. The cost could reduce to $66 to produce 1 kg of
gold using developed process and results in 100 L of waste.

  2þ  2 
2þ Adsorption of gold using low concentration amino acids (glycine)
AuoðsÞ þ Cu NH3 4 þ 3 S 2 O3 ¼ Au NH3 and hydrogen peroxide was developed by Oraby and Eksteen
2
" ! #5 (2015). This process has the advantages of low cost and elimina-
tion of toxic waste-disposal problems. It could be mentioned that
þ Cu S2 O3 þ2NH3 the dissolution of gold can be enhanced by using other amino acids,
3
but more toxicity of other amino acids compared to glycine limits
Pyrometallurgy process requires high temperatures to burns the their industrial application.
gold off. This process releases dangerous gases, like dioxins during
pyrometallurgy process affect the environment in negative way. 4.3. Recovery of silver (Ag), cupper (Cu) tin (Sn) and nickel (Ni)
Moreover, the process uses cyanide solution or aqua regia to
dissolve the gold which is expensive, very toxic and completely Silver is commonly electro-refined using similar electrolytic cell.
non-recyclable. Moradi et al. (2014) developed an ecofriendly Pure silver powder is harvested from the cathode manually or using
process to extracts gold efficiently and effectively without any of mechanical wipers that from on the cathode, before being dewa-
the downfalls of current industry practices. It was reported that a tered and washed. Usually, acid leaching procedure for the treat-
minute amount of an acid and an oxidant is required to finish the ment of e-waste, trailed by the separation of Ag and Cu, Sn were
reaction. The contact layer of gold leached out from circuits in about performed using various lixiviants (Table 7). A conclusion was
10 s leaving behind the other metals intact under very mild con- reached by Xing and Lee (2019) that the utilization of solvent
dition, claimed by Moradi et al. (2014). It was highlighted that the extraction or ion exchange process for Ag separation from e-waste
 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815 9

Table 3
Summary of current industrial process for recovery of metals from e-waste.

Industrial processes Recovered materials Features, pros and cons

Umicore’s process
MüllerGuttenbrunn
Group (MGG) in
Austria
Eldan recycling in
Zaragoza (Spain)
Daimler Benz in Ulm
(Germany)
NEC Group in Japan
LS-Nikko’s recycling
facility, Korea
Day’s patent
Aleksandrovich patent
Diamagnetic (Au, Pb, Ag, Cu), Precious metals (Pd, Pt, Ru, Rh), Paramagnetic (Ni, Co) Leaching process
Pros: No dust exposure
Cons: Long time operational process.
The process handles collection, depollution, shredding, and ferrous metal separation, Capacity: 80,000 tons of e-waste yearly.
followed by nonferrous separation and even plastic recycling. Pros: High recovery rate of ore metals
Cons: Occupational health and safety problem due to
dust exposure.
Nonferrous separation and plastic recycling Capacity ranges from 800 to 5000 kg/h
Pros: Automated dismantling, cost effective, time
saving
Cons: Pure metal recovery efficiency low.
Metallic and nonmetallic fractions were separated via sieving Pros: No waste water required, No gas emission,
performed at room temperature.
Cons: Pure metal separation efficiency low
Separation of Cu rich powder and glass fiber and resin powders. Pros: Cu can be separated from glass fiber and resin
powder
Cons: Loss of metals in dry due to liberation problem
of plastics and metals.
Au, Ag, follow smelting and electrolytic refining process Pros: Advance methods, Selective, Easy control
Cons: Plastics cannot be separated due to heating and
melting process, Energy intensive process.
Pt, Pd Follow Hydro and pyrometallurgy process
Pros: Easy control, selective, advance method
Cons: Require corrosion resistant equipment, Energy
intensive process, glass and plastics are lost
Au Follow hydro and pyrometallurgy,
Pros: Easy control, selective, advance method
Cons: Require corrosion resistant equipment, Energy
intensive process, glass and plastics are lost

was not efficient. Cementation process was reported to be more concerns should be considered during recovery of nickel. Therefore,
efficient for silver recovery from e-waste among metal separation a relatively low temperature leaching process using organic citric
process. The reactions during the cementation are shown below. acid could be more efficient for Ni recovery from printed circuit
boards. Biological process may reduce energy consumption and
Cl 2
2 þCuðsÞ ¼ CuCl4 þ 2Ag ðsÞ
negative environmental influence for the metal recovery from
waste.


CuðsÞ Cl2
4 ¼ Cl2
Recently, a combined pyro- and hydrometallurgy based anode
slimes was proposed for efficient recovery of metal. Xing et al.
(2018) was separated Cu from Cu and Ni contained anode slimes
using LIX 63 solvent. However, multi-stage leaching and high en-
ergy consumption limits its industrial application. The involvement
of electrochemical process in metal recovery process could reduce
energy consumption and negative environmental effect. A poten-
tially useful source of tin is e-waste which includes a broad range of
electronic devices from computer to hand-held cellular phones,
stereos, and consumer electronics. Overall electrochemical recov-
ery of tin consists of two individual processes (Fogarasi et al., 2019):
(1) Tin leaching in either (a) H2SiF5 þ H2SO4 þ H2O2 solution or (b)
HNO3 solution and subsequently leaching in HCl solution. The most
efficient recovery of tin was observed recovery rate of 93.2%.
Sn(s) þ 4 HCl(aq) þ HNO3 (aq) /SnCl2 (aq) þ NOCl (aq)
SnCl2 (aq) þ H2O (l) /Sn(OH) Cl (s) þ HCl (g)
A significant amount of Ni contain in a printed circuit boards
(PCBs) of cathode ray tubes. About 96% recovery of Ni obtained by
using hydrochloric acid was reported by Sutherland (2002). The
efficiency of Ni recovery from a printed circuit boards using sulfuric
acid was reported to be higher than that of hydrochloric acid (Li
et al., 2018). Further, ultrasonic agitation during Ni recovery from
a printed circuit boards may improve the leaching efficiency.
However, nickel exposure related health risk and environmental
5. Biological process for metal recovery
Bioleaching is natural phenomenon in which a diverse group of
microorganisms including chemolithotrophic, heterotrophic bac-
teria and fungi are involved in dissolving metals from e-waste.
Biosorption including precipitation, complexation, adsorption and
ion exchange are metabolically independent process, as shown in
Fig. 10. Separation of materials from substances is initiated by
autotrophic, heterotrophic or hybrid leaching process. Multistep
recycling strategies and Jarosite formation due to the consequence
of the increase in pH involved in autotrophic leaching process.
Using the advantages of heterotrophic, autotrophic leaching or
chemical leaching might be suitable opportunities to metals from
e-waste (Table 8). Hussain et al. (2016) focused the used of sulfate
reducing bacteria to recovery metals from e-waste. The precipita-
tion of metal was occurred through the formation of insoluble
þ 2H2O (aq) metal sulphidic precipitates. Releasing compounds from metabo-
lized bacteria was used in precipitation process to recover metals.
Several researchers demonstrated the recovery of precious metal
(e.g., Ag, Au, Co) as well as base metals (e.g., Cu, Ni, Fe, Zn) have
been demonstrated (Table 9). The A. niger MXPE6 or Acid-
ithiobacillus thiooxidans is suitable for Au recovery while the
Aspergilllus niger or Aspergillus nomius is the most promising
microorganism for Cu recovery. The mobilization of metals was
caused through the formation of organic acid and inorganic acid.
Two-step leaching process was reported to be efficient for metal
mobilization. However, low bioleaching efficiency and long bio-
leaching time are the main drawbacks of biological method
10 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815

Table 4
Advantages and disadvantages of various technological approaches for noble metal recovery.

Process Sub-method Advantage Disadvantage References

Pyrometallurgy Smelting in Precious metals can be recovered with reduced environmental impact Only copper and precious metals can be Li et al.,
furnaces The recovery rates of precious metals over 95% recovered. 2019
Alkali smelting Plastics and ceramics can be separated below 400
C Hydrocarbon chains break down into Ding et al.
The formation of toxic dioxins and furans can be avoided. molten alkaline compounds. (2019)
Metal trapping Higher recovery rate and less pollution in Cu and Fe trapping methods to Oxidation of Cu or Fe may cause difficulties He et al.
method separate precious metals in metal separation. (2012)
Matte collecting Low melting point with good liquidity of materials Too low basicity in this process may inhibit Ding et al.
method the separation of precious metals (2019)
Plasma melting High recovery rate, no generation waste water and gas. High energy consumption (>2000
C) He et al.
technology (2016)
Hydrometallurgy Chlorination Low investment, low toxicity. Emission Cl2, waste pollution Ding et al.
leaching (2019)
Iodation leaching Low toxicity, high recovery rate High cost, water pollution
Cyanide leaching High recovery rate, low energy consumption Dangerous leachant and causes risk on
health.
Halide leaching Low toxicity, high recovery rate, consume less energy Halide leaching is difficult to implement
due to strong corrosive and oxidizing
conditions.
Thiourealeachant High recovery rate, low energy consumption, low toxicity. Thiourea leachant is limited due to its high
cost and consumption
Thiosulphate High recovery rate, low energy consumption The consumption of thiosulphate is
comparatively higher and overall process
slower
Supercritical High recovery rate of Pt, Pd, Rh, Waste oil and waste gas pollution Chemical
fluids extraction reagents; waste emission.
Mechanically size reduction for efficient
dissolution lost 20% of precious metals.
The risk of loss during dissolution and
subsequent steps affected the recovery of
metals.
Liquid-Liquid Advantages of high selectivity and excellent extraction efficiency Volatile, inflammability, toxic, and not non- Masilela
and Solid phase recyclability limit its along term application and Ndlovu
reaction (2019)
HCl þ Oxidant High leaching efficiency Chlorine gas is highly corrosive and toxic. Li et al.,
leaching Precious metals are mostly oxidized and form soluble complexes (e.g. Chlorine gas must be turned into harmless 2019
[PtCl6]2, [PdCl4]2, [RhCl6]3-) with chloride. chloride for discharge
Microwave- High recovery rate Laboratory Immature technology Ding et al.
assisted leaching The leaching time could be significantly reduced by using microwave- (2019)
assisted heating.
Electrochemical Electrochemical Electrochemical technology is a promising method to recover precious Multi steps process required this process Kim et al.
methods metals from e-waste due to its high energy efficiency, low environmental may increase the cost of production. (2011)a,b
impact and minimal chemical usage.

Cyanide extraction
About 120-180oC temperature and under pressure method
based on leaching by means of sodium cyanide Separation /Screening method
With the of carbon catalytic carrier is grinded
and the mixture of NaCl, KCl and CaCl2; Washing with
Aqua regia extraction water and condensing by heating we gained the
Pt goes to the aqua regia solution in the mixture of Oxygen which is blown.
form of PtCl6, then extracted the solution
by Aluminium (Al)/ Zinc(Zn) powder. Chlorination
With the presence of NaCl Calcination
The system of liquid diaphragrams using and reduction process is completed by
The process is conducted among two semi CO, the chlorination temperature is
permeable membranes by applying Cyanex 471and 1200oC and air of the solution is blown.
used for separating, recovering and concentrating
of Palladium (Pd) from the Chloride water
solution.

Hydrometallurgical
method

Fig. 6. Characteristics for recycling PGM metals from auto catalytic converters through applying hydrometallurgical methods.

compare to the chemical one. Hence, the use of the optimum future.
conditions, the right mixed culture of bacteria, and the proper Auxoautotrophs and auxoheterotrophs are the two microor-
method could be improved the metal recovery and efficiency in ganisms used in bioleaching. Auxoautotroph species include
 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815 11

Table 5
A summary of the extraction and separation of Pt and Pd by various extractant.

Materials Leaching conditions Advantages Disadvantages References

Waste PWBs HNO3 20e40%, aqua regia 20%,T ¼ 80
C, t ¼ 1.5 h Au 87%, Ag 40% Only Pt 23% was recovered Luyima et al.
(2011)
PCBs H2SO4 and H2O2 Pd 97.87% Poor separation efficiency of Au (6%) and Behnamfard et al.
H2O21%, NaClO 10%, HCl 2 mol/L Ag (16.48). (2013)
PCBs Aqua regia, T ¼ 25
C, t ¼ 3 h Au 97%, Ag 98%, Pd 93% Crucial Stripping problem Park and Fray
(2009)
2þ
PCBs CuSO4þNaCl (Cu/Cu Pd 96.9% Separation of Pd from stripping step. Zhang and Zhang
1.4), T ¼ 60
C, 0.5 h (2014)
PCBs Aqua regia, Organic solvent, Aliquat336, NaBH4, Pd 100% Time consuming process Fontana et al.
T ¼ 60
C, t ¼ 2 h, pH 6.0 (2018)
Spent catalyst NaCl, H2O2 (10%), HCl, T ¼ 90
C, t ¼ 8 h Pt 99.5% No information for separation Pd and Pt Ding et al. (2019)
stripping steps


Multi metal 3 g/L Aliquat-336, 2 M NaOH, T ¼ 25 C, t ¼ 5 min Pd 99% with short time Aliquat-336, Crucial stripping problem Wei et al. (2016)
solution
Multi metal 3 g/L Aliquat-336, 1 M thiourea, 2 M HCl, T ¼ 25
C, Pt 94% No information for separation Pd Pt from Wei et al. (2016)
solution t ¼ 5 min stripping
Multi metal 6 M HCl, Aliquat 336, Pd 99% Crucial stripping problem Nguyen et al.
solution (2015)


Multi metal Aliquat 336,0.7 M thiourea 0.5 M HCl, T ¼ 25 C, Pt 95% High co-stripping of Pt together with Pd. Nguyen et al.
solution t ¼ 30 min (2015)
LIX 841 1 g/L, Pt, Pd Extraction of Pd over Pt in the pH Low HCl concentration in leach liquir Nguyen et al.
range of 1e3. (2016)
DMDCHTDGA 0.1 g/L Pt, Pd Co extraction of Pt and Pd at 8 M Low separation efficiency Nguyen et al.
HCl. (2016)

DMDCHTDGA ¼ dicyclohexyltetradecylmalonamide, PCBs ¼ Printed circuit boards.

Sulfobacillus, Acidianus, Acidiphilium Thiobacillus and Leptospirillum
ferrooxidans, of which the Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, L. ferroox-
idans and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans are widely used in practical
application. Separation of metals from e-waste using biological
process occurs through acidolysis, complexation. Organic sub-
strates (bacteria and fungi) contained auxoheterotrophs could also
be used to leach metals from e-waste (Ilyas and Lee, 2014). Organic
acid (acetic acid and Carbonic acid) and inorganic acid (sulfuric
acid, nitric acid, formic acid) are the metabolites of bacteria.
Aspergillus and penicillium can produce metabolites such as oxalic
acid, citric acid, and gluconic acid, so they are the most important
fungi. Precious metals can only extract base metals from E-waste
with A. ferrooxidans but extraction of this bacterium is difficult (Gu
et al., 2014). Bioleaching base metals recovery was performed by
A. ferrooxidans under optimized condition, however, the bioleach
efficiency A. ferrooxidans is low. Comparing with A. ferrooxidans. L.
ferrooxidans have higher affinity for Fe2þ. A conclusion has been
reached by the researchers (Brandl et al., 2008) that fungi can
extract precious metals (Ag, Au, and Pd) from E-waste through
bioleaching.
reported that ideal pH of A. ferroxidans for the bioleaching of Cu
from waste PCBs was in the range of 1.8e2.5. The Cu extraction of
99% was achieved due to the higher concentration of Fe3þ present
in the culture medium. The amount of dissolve oxygen has a
deciding impact on the metal extraction by cyanogenic bacteria as
oxygen required for bacterial respiration. The co-existence of
oxidizing chemolitoautotrophs in the medium favored the mobili-
zation of copper. The utilization of the ideal conditions, the privi-
lege mixed culture of bacteria and the correct strategy could
improve the metal recovery and efficiency in future. The con-
sumption of Fe3þ due to the mobilization of Cu ions favors the
bioleaching with ferroxidans, as reported by Seidel et al. (2006) in
the following reactions.
4Fe2þ þ O2 þ 2Hþ /4Fe3þ þ 2OH
Cuo þ 2Fe3þ /Cu2þ þ2Fe2þ

5.2. Bioleaching mechanisms of bacteria

5.1. Mechanisms of biological method
Growth of microorganism without addition of e-waste and the
addition of e-waste powder to the reactor are the two main stages
in biological process. The reaction of organic sugar and acid with e-
waste powder is arisen at first stage and the growth of microor-
ganism is initiated in the second stage. The heavy metals can
selectively be extracted from electronic waste through these pro-
cesses. Fungi and bacteria are commonly used for noble metal re-
covery from e-waste through bioleaching process. Bioleaching is
emphatically affected by the chemical composition of culture me-
dia, the particle size of the milled PCBs, and the pH of the system.
Two fundamental sorts of culture are ferroxidans and thiooxidans,
and these microscopic organisms can solubilize Cu, Al, Zn, and Ni.
Mechanism for ferroxidans solubilized Cu in culture medium
was demonstrated by Hsu et al. (2019), as shown in Fig. 11. It was
Bioleaching reaction mechanisms of bacteria and electronic-
waste have been investigated by the researchers using different
states of A. ferrooxidans and A. thiooxidans. No contact between E-
waste and bacteria is required to proceed the reaction in bio-
leaching process, as reported by Gu et al. (2017). The oxidation of
Fe2þ into Fe3þ could be performed in bioleaching process using
inorganic acid and enzymes. The speeding up of bioleaching reac-
tion process is initiated by the production of Hþ during the oxida-
tion of metallic sulfide to sulfate by Fe3þ. It might be noted that the
production of Fe3þ from A. ferrooxidans and A. thiooxidans 1accel-
erates the bioleaching process. A direct bioleaching of noble metals
from e-waste was reported by Wang et al. (2009) using
A. ferrooxidans and A. thiooxidans. It was concluded by Seidel et al.
(2006) that the bioleaching efficiency of metals was depend on the
oxidation rate of Fe2þ to Fe3þ, pH and Fe2þ concentration. The
12 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815

(A)

(B)

Fig. 7. The precious group metals separated by A) pH changing process; B) Solvent extraction process (Cleare and Grant, 1981; Wang et al., 2018).

possible mechanisms of bioleaching are provided as follows.
2So þ3O2 þ2H2O / 4Hþ þ2SO2(
4 Action of bacteria)
2Cuo þ4Hþ þ2SO2
4 þ O2/ 2Cu
2þ
þ 2SO2
4 þ2H2O
An indirect and direct leaching mechanism exists in bioleaching
base metal extraction process. Yang et al. (2009) was extracted
68.5% and 85% of gold by using C. violaceum and L. acidophilus
bacteria, respectively. Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria was used by
Gu et al. (2019) to extract 99% of Ag, Pd. However, the factors
influenced the process and mechanism of bioleaching should be
studied in detail to make process sustainable.
5.3. Bioleaching mechanisms of fungi
The reaction of precious metals recover from e-waste in bio-
logical method is initiated by the bacteria-produced cyanide or
fungi-produced organic acids. Numbers of organic complexing
agents including the citric acid, tartaric acid, and oxalic acid are
required to recover precious metals from e-waste. Aspergillus niger
is the common fungi used for the extraction of Au and Ag from e-
waste. It might be mentioned that the leaching agents produced by
the Aspergillus niger are the gluconic acid and citric acid. The
theoretical equation for the generation of energy and acceleration
of reaction to extract precious metals from e-waste as follows:
C6H12O6 þ 1.5O2 /C6H8O7 þ 2H2O (Action of A. niger)
The adsorption of metal ions in biosorption process was initi-
ated by the microorganism generated ligands through chelation
€
process (Ozer et al., 2005). Metal can be recovered from e-waste by
using A. niger as an adsorbent. Microbial leaching of metals is
accompanied in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The process
could be affected by the solid-liquid ratio, temperature or the pH of
the solution. A different kind of microorganisms used in extraction
metals from electronic waste is shown in Table 10. Microorganisms
are adapted environmental friendly living conditions compared
 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815 13

Fig. 8. Scheme of the experiments on Rh precipitation from HCl solutions containing Pd, Pt, and Rh.

Table 6
Gold extraction from e-waste by various lixiviants.

Materials Leaching conditions Temp. Time Recovery rate References

(
C)

PCBs Ammonium thiosulfate l, 1 M Na2(S2O3), 0.5 M NH4OH, 0.25 M (NH4)2SO4, 25 24 h Au 99% Jeon et al. (2018)
10 mM CuSO4
E-waste Ammonium thiosulfate, gold chloride 30 5 days Au 85% Sheel and Pant (2018)
PCBs Iodine 3%, H2O21%, pH ¼ 7 35 4 Au 99.98% Sahin et al. (2015)
PCBs Hydrochloric acid solution, thiourea or acidic thiourea 50 2 Au 98% Choudhary et al. (2018)
PCBs Thiosulfate 72.71 mmol, Cu2þ 10.0 mmol, NH3 40 5 min Au 91% Ha et al. (2014)
0.266 mol
PCBs Aqua regia and iodine/iodide 75 3h 100% of gold Birich et al. (2018)
PCBs HCl, NaCl, H2O2 25 4h 95.73% gold Li et al. (2019)
PCBs 5 vol% HCl, Amberlite XAD-7HP, Bonlite BA304, and Purolite A-500 25 163 min 97% gold Kim et al. (2011)a,b
Waste cell SC(NH2)2 0.2 mol, HCl 0.5 mol, FeCl3 0.1 mol 25 2h Au 54.81%, Ag 20.72%, Pd Diaz et al. (2016)
phones 29.6%
PCBs CuCl2∙2H2O 25 10 min 75% Au Korolev et al. (2018)
Waste PCBs HNO3 1 mol/L 25 96 min ~100% Au Jadhav and Hocheng
(2015)
Waste PCBs Cupric, ferric chloride, cellulose nanofibers 25 48 h 90% Au Jafari et al. (2019)
Waste PCBs HNO3 1 mol/L 25 96 h ~100% Jadhav and Hocheng
(2015)
Waste PCBs HNO3, Dimethylacetamide and acetone 50 22 h 94% gold Tatariants et al. (2018)
PCBs H2SO4 and H2O2 25 3h Au 84.31%, Ag 71.36%, Behnamfard et al. (2013)
Pd 2.13%;

PCBs ¼ Printed circuit boards.

with the conventional techniques. However, the metal dissolving
speed with bacteria is significantly slow.
6. E-waste scenario and practice in Bangladesh
Digitalization of Bangladesh is the main driving force to increase
the consumption of electronic component and e-waste over the last
decade. Different categories of e-waste including ship breaking
yard, television set, mobile phones, dental waste and household
electrical appliances are available in Bangladesh. The high amount
of e-waste per year is harmful for the environment due to its un-
conscious dumping practice. According to the Environment and
Social Development Organization, the generation of e-waste
increased by the year 2005e2012 in Bangladesh is 2.81e5.181
million metric tons. The total growth rate of electronic waste in
world is about 5% where in Bangladesh is 48% (Herat and
Agamuthu, 2012). Sixty eight percent of e-waste is being gener-
ated from the medical and dental electronics in Bangladesh every
14 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815
Fig. 9. Potential leaching systems of precious grousp metals (Ding et al., 2019; Tuncuk et al., 2012).
year. For proper management of e-waste, the government of
Bangladesh can be maintained four steps like as: consume, collect,
function for recovery, material and energy for recovery, shown in
Fig. 12. Open disposal of electronic waste, households, private en-
terprises and public bodies are the main sources of consuming e-
waste. In the collection step includes the traders of electronic
waste, informal collection, sales and formal collection. A number of
models were developed for the environment and health hazard.
The equation for formal recycle of e-waste was developed by
Hossain et al. (2015), as follows:
E ¼ MN/L
Where, E ¼ generated e-waste (million metric ton/per year);
M ¼ mass of the product in metric ton.
N ¼ average number of used products and L ¼ lifespan in years
The balance analysis model can used to calculate the fund
required for e-waste processing as presented in Table 11. The sur-
plus or deficit fund and sustainability of e-waste was measured by
using the fund balance analysis model. Moreover, Bangladesh
government should take initiatives to manage e-waste and protect
the environment. Bangladesh has no regulation and particularly
policy for e-waste management. A national 3 R (Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle) should be prepared by Bangladesh government. For
properly e-waste management, the Bangladesh government should
take some steps as shown in Table 12. Moreover, the ability of
implementation for the policies-based on extended producer re-
sponsibility policies as shown in Fig. 13. After all, the requirement of
strong incentive for the researchers is imperative for sustainable
solution to extract noble metals from e-waste.
7. Conclusions
The trend of recycling is important from the view point of
maximum precious metals recovery and minimum environmental
impact. The separation of noble metals can act as an economic
 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815 15

Table 7
Recovery of silver (Ag), cupper (Cu) tin (Sn) and nickel (Ni) from e-waste by various lixiviants.

Materials Leaching conditions Temp. Time Recovery rate References

(
C)

PCBs 2.18 N H2SO4, 3.0 N HCl, NaOH 60 2h Sn 87.3%, Castro and Martins
(2009)
PCBs 2.18 N H2SO4, 3.0 N HCl, pH 4.2, NaOH 60 2h Cu 31.9%, Castro and Martins
(2009)
2
PCBs 2.18 N H2SO4, 300 A.m for cathodic current density 60 32 min Sn 97.5% o Peres et al. (2012)
PCBs (4 g NaCN/L), 0.5 kg of PCBs (particle size range from 3.33 mm to 0.42 mm), pH 11 25 15 days. 99.3% Ag Montero et al. (2012)
80.7% Cu
PCBs HNO3, electrowinning, precipitation and cementation experiments, pH 2, NaOH, 80 30 min 95% Sn Lee et al. (2003)
PCBs Electrowinning 80 20 h 98% Cu Lee et al. (2003)
PCBs Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and hydrogen peroxide 24 6h 99% Cu Işıldar et al. (2017)
PCBs Ferric sulfate, sulfuric acid, thiourea 20 3 Cu (100%) Lee et al. (2011)
PCBs Aqua regia using hydrometallurgical route followed by electrodeposition using copper 25 2h 100% Sn da Silva et al. (2019)
electrodes
PCBs 2 M hydrochloric acid (HCl), pH 7 75 2h Sn 88% Moosakazemi et al.
(2019)
PCBs Tin-based product without copper fraction was recovered in the first step of heat 500 510 min Sn 80% Hossain et al. (2018)
treatment
PCBs Thermal transformation 1000 510 min Cu 80% Hossain et al. (2018)
PCBs Thermal transformation 1300 5 min Cu 93.56%, Zn 65.07%, Meng et al. (2018)
Pb.92%,
Sn 95.52%

Direct mechanism
Physical contact of microorganism with metal sulphide
MS + H2SO4 + 0.5O2 4 +So + H2O
So + 1.5 O2 +H2O _ (Bacteria)H2SO4
Indirect mechanism
Involves ferrous to ferric cycle
It involves ferric-ions(a strong oxidizing agent) which oxidizes minerals.
Role of microbes is to regain Fe3+ from Fe2+
MS +2Fe3+ 2+ +2Fe2+ + So

2Fe2+ + .5O2 +2H+ 3+ + H O

2
Thiosulphate mechanism
Ferric ion attack on the acid insoluble metal sulphide(i.e, pyrite(FeS2)) and
molybdenite(MoS2)
FeS2 + 6Fe3+ + 3H2 2- 2+
2O3 +7Fe +6H
+
2- 3+
S2O3 +8 Fe +5H2 2- 2+ +
2O4 +8 Fe +10H
Polysulfide mechanism
Combined attack of protons and ferric ion on acid soluble metal sulphide[Like;
sphalerite(ZnS), chalcopyrite(CuFeS2) of gelena(PbS)]
MS +Fe3+ + H+ 2+ + 0.5 H S +Fe2+
2 n
0.5H2Sn 2+ +
n + Fe +H
0.125Sn +1.5 O2 +H2 2- +
4 +2H

Fig. 10. Biological mechanism for metal extraction from electronic waste (Chatterjee et al., 2019; Pant et al., 2012).
16 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815

Table 8
Advantages and disadvantages of different bioleaching process.

Process Bioleaching mechanism Advantages Disadvantages References

Autotrophic Acidolysis (H2SO4),  Iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria are used.  Extraction efficiency of metal Zhao et al. (2019);
Chemolithotrophic Redoxolysis (Fe3þ)  Mainly focused on the recovery of transition is low Işıldar et al. (2019)
bioleaching metals and rare earth elements to a lesser  Involved in various multistep
extent. recycling strategies.
 Jarosite formation due to the
consequence of the increase
in pH.
 Low waste load (solid liquid
ratio) and process kinetics
 Time consuming
Heterotrophic Acidolysis (citric acid, oxalic  Ligand, complexant, and organic acid-  The pH higher than 9.5 is Baniasadi et al. (2019);
bioleaching acid) producing microorganisms are used, inhibitory for cell growth. Işıldar et al. (2019)
Complexolysis (CN-)  Heterotrophic microorganisms tolerate a  Glycine is essential for
wider range of pH compared to autotrophic. biogenic cyanide production.
 Autotrophic bioleaching targets the valuable However, high concentration
metals (Au, Ag, and Cu) and the PGM (Pt, Pd, of glycine might be inhibitory
Rh, and Ru). for growth.
 Autotrophic bioleaching is chemically stable  Economically unfeasibility
at high pH (pH 9.5). due to high supply of carbon
and energy sources into the
bioleachate solution
 Low yield of minerals.
Hybrid bioleaching Acidolysis (H2SO4),  Higher metal removal efficacies compared to  Separate process is required Dolker et al. (2019)
redoxolysis (Fe3þ), heterotrophic or autotrophic approaches. where the cells are grown in
complexolysis the absence of waste material
(surfactants or CN) due its inhibitory effect on
growth.
 Various multistep recycling
strategies is required
 A heat create from the
dissolving process can kill
the bacteria.
 High risk of contamination

Table 9
Microorganisms used for bioleaching of e-waste.

Microorganism E-waste Targetmetal References

A. ferrooxidans Smartphones Cu de Andrade

et al. (2019)
A. niger MX5 and A. niger MXPE6 PCBs Cu, Au Díaz-Martínez
et al. (2019)
Aspergillus niger MXPE6 PCBs Au Argumedo-
Delira et al.
(2019)
Acidithiobacillus caldus PCBs Cu, Zn Akbari and
Sulfobacillus thermosulphidooxans Ahmadi (2019)
Cidithiobacillus thiooxidans Spent coin Li, Co, Mn Naseri et al.
cells (2019)
Aspergilllus niger PCBs Cu, Sn Brandl et al.
(2008)
Pseudomonas balearica SAE1 PCBs Au, Ag Kumar et al.
(2018)
P. fluorescens PCBs Ag Yuan et al.
(2018)
Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans PCBs Au Marra et al.
(2018)
Purpureocillium lilacinum, PCBs Cu, Al, Zn Pb Xia et al. (2018)
Aspergillusniger
Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, PCBs Fe Wang et al.
Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (2018)
Aspergillus niger LIBs Ni, Naseri et al.
Co,Mn,Li, (2019) Fig. 11. The mechanism for ferroxidans solubilized Cu in solution.
Cu, Al
A. fumigatus, A. flavipes, A. japonicus, Battery Ni, Cd,Co, Kim et al.
A.tubingensisA. versicolor, A. niger Zn (2016) driver for sustainable development. Traditionally, precious metals
Aspergillus nomius Battery Cu, Pb, Ni Chatterjee
are recovered from e-waste by using pyrometallurgy process.
et al. (2019)
However, the process releases dangerous dioxins gases affecting
LiBs ¼ Lithium batteries, PCBs ¼ Printed circuit boards. the environment in negative way. The leaching of cyanide solution
or aquaregia in hydrometallurgical process is not sustainable due to
Table 10 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815 17
Microorganisms which extract the metals from electronic waste and the pH of that
metals for precipitate. its non-recyclability and toxicity. Thus, the attention has been paid
Microbes Targeted metals pH References to develop an alternative to hydrometallurgical process for metal
Bacteria
regaining from e-waste. Thiosulphate can be used as an alternative
Streptomyces erythraeus Au 4.0 Marra et al. (2018) to cyanide for extraction of gold from ores. Based on an evaluation
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans Pd 2.0 of various methods in view of economic feasibility and environ-
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans Pt 2.0 mental sustainability, it might be noted that leaching of gold by a
Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans Cu 2e3
pinch of acid, vinegar and an oxidant may be most realistic sub-
Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans Pb 3e4
Fungi stitute owing to its rapid reaction rate and lower environmental
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Au 5 Savvaidis (1998) impact compare to cyanide leaching. Biotechnology has been
Cladosporium cladosporioides Ag 4 identified a promising technology to be used in a noble metal
Aspergillus niger.ni Au 2.5 extraction form e-waste due to its less adverse environmental
Fusarium oxysporium Ag 5e7
impact. The improvement of bioleaching efficiency and the devel-
Algae
Chlorella vulgaris Ag 6.5 Kuyucak and Volesky opment of microbial consortia are the giant challenges for precious
Sargassum natans Au 2.5 (1988); Cordery et al. metals recovery. Finally, the prohibition of uncovered burning and
(1994) open stockpiling of e-waste and educating the local workers

Metarial and
Consume Function for
Collect energy for
recovery Recovery

Open disposal Components traders,

of e-devices Devices separators, Pyrolysis and
Remanufactures,
Dismantlers,
Manual recycling shops,
Households Second hand material
traders, and
Leaching facilities

Private
Enterprises

Public
bodies

Fig. 12. Proposed method for e-waste management in Bangladesh.

Table 11
A fund balance analysis model to calculate the processing funds.

Model Remarks References

Penetration rate estimated model Where, P ¼ penetration rate of EEE, Wang et al. (2015)
(1) dp/dt ¼ sp(1-p/k) s ¼ intrinsic growth rate, k ¼ asymptotic value of maximum penetration rate,
(2) Pi ¼ K/[1 þ exp(-si þ C)] c ¼ ln[Po/k-Po] and Po ¼ initial penetration rate in time period 0, i ¼ time passed.
(3) Pi ¼ pi.Mi
Lifespan distribution model To ¼ initial year in time period 0, Gu et al. (2017)
F(t; u,v) ¼ {u/v(t-to/v)v1 exp[-(t-to/v)u] t  to U ¼ scale parameter,
V ¼ shape parameter
Stock-based model Pt ¼ use stock of EEE in year, Kim et al. (2013); Gu et al. (2016)
(1) St-Ot ¼ PtePt-1 St and Ot ¼ Sales quantity and obsolete quantity.
P
(2) Ot ¼ St-i.g(i)
Material flow analysis Ft ¼ quantity of formal recycling WEEE, Gu et al. (2016)
P
Ft ¼ Ot-i.ᶯt-i.rt ᶯi ¼ ratio of obsolete EEE generated,
Rt ¼ the ratio of formal recycled.
Fund balance analysis model ai and bi ¼ the fund collection and subsidery standards of each unit in the period i, Gu et al. (2017)
Ni¼Ni-1.(1þᵞ)(ai.Si-bi.Fi-Gi) Ni ¼ accumulation of the net fund balance period of 0 to i,
G ¼ management cost of fund agency, y ¼ appreciation rate
18 A. Islam et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 244 (2020) 118815

Table 12
E-waste policy for Bangladesh.

Policy Remarks

Collection and management
Income generating opportunity
Consciousness
Infrastructure
licensing and certification system
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy should start for producers, importers/retailers.
policy
Formal e-waste collection, management, financing and progressive high-technology for e-waste should be incorporated in
Bangladesh
There should give the income generating opportunity for consumer for their willingly handout the e-waste to govt.
Attentiveness should create to the common people about the potential environmental and health risky and create consciousness
Proper infrastructure for recycling or management should develop according to the regulation and principles for sustainable
development
There should be a licensing and certification system for collector, disposal enterprise, second hand appliance and recycling for
ensuring safety.

Develop collection, transportation, storage and

disassembling
Develop legal License collectors, transporter, handlers and exporters
Grand approval of third party organization
frame work Developing the administrative framework
Awareness of second hand devices to import

Electronic waste collection market

Take back Operate a municipal sewage collection system
household Drop off location and events
Door to door pic up
appliances Licensing of waste disposal site

Identify hazardous and recoverable metals in electronic

Disposal ban waste
in landfill Recycling precious metals by mechanical and chemical
process
Setting initial and periodic goals for electronic waste

Product re- Promote waste segregation

design and Financing for electronic waste management
Developed technology
feasibility Proper infrastructure
study Trans-boundary flow of electronic waste

Develop Capacity building and awareness

Explanation the impact of open disposal electronic
advanced waste
Extended Monitoring electronic waste collection
Enact legislation to reduce waste generation
Personal Institutional mechanism and coordination
Establish environmentally sound infrastructure and
Responsibility system
program
Fig. 13. Recommended policy of e-waste management for Bangladesh.

approach could reduce the harmful consequence of e-waste. (JUST), Jashore-7408, Bangladesh.

Acknowledgement References

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Telecommunications and Information Technology, Bangladesh un-
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