Precious Metals E-waste Recovery Market to Observe Significant Growth Due to Company Acquisitions and Business Expansion by Market Players, such as Sims Lifecycle Services, Mint Innovation, and Others

E-waste is an informal name for electronic items that are on the verge of expiry. E-wastes are considered as harmful, a few components of electronic products are hazardous and pose a threat to human life & the environment. E-waste can include discarded televisions, computers, VCRs, copiers, stereos, fax machines, cell phones, electric lamps, batteries, and much more. This type of waste contains precious metals such as silver, gold, selenium, copper, mercury, and much more. All these metals can be refurbished, reused, or recycled. According to the estimates provided by the US EPA (Environment Protection Agency) around 1 million cell phones can gather approximately 24 Kg of gold, 9 Kg of palladium, 250 Kg of silver, and 9000 Kg of copper. Furthermore, after the collection of e-waste, it is dismantled, and components are separated and tested. Hazardous items are isolated and disposed of safely without harming the environment. Also, precious metals like copper, gold, silver, and palladium are extracted and reused. Some of the popular methods used for extracting precious metals are the hydrometallurgical process, pyrometallurgical method, and bioleaching.

Covid-19 Impact on the Global Precious Metals E-waste Recovery Market

The market is experiencing a negative impact during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the global lockdowns and temporary or permanent shutdown of the industries, to curb the viral infection. These aspects have resulted in the disruptions of the demand and supply chain of finished goods and raw materials. However, the precious metals e-waste recovery market is predicted to recover in the post-lockdown situation due to tactics applied by the market players. Some of the key market players of the industry are Johnson Matthey, umicore, Materion Corporation, Boliden Group, Sims Lifecycle Services, Inc., TANAKA Holdings Co., Ltd., Metallix, TES, Heraeus Holding, and Enviroleach Technologies Inc. These key players are adopting various strategies to stronghold their position in the market.

For instance, in August 2020, Sims Lifecycle Services, an electronics recycling company, revealed Tampa innovation center to enhance recycling, redeployment, and reuse of IT equipment.

Key Market Trends & Developments of the Precious Metals E-waste Recovery Market

The well-known players of the global precious metals e-waste recovery market are aiming for unique strategies, such as mergers and acquisitions of promising companies, building product portfolios, new product announcements, investments in research & development areas, and financing for the forthcoming activities and innovations. These tactics are propelling the growth of businesses across the world. For instance,

• In April 2018, Namo E-waste Management Ltd, India’s leading e-waste facility, declared to start the extraction process of precious metals for the first time in India along with regular metals like aluminum and copper.
   
• In March 2021, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Economic Forum started an initiative to tackle the issue of mounting e-waste and its recovery. Several companies, such as Google, Dell Technologies, Cisco, Microsoft, Glencore, KPMG International, Vodafone, and Sims Limited have joined hands in this initiative.
   
• In April 2021, Mint Innovation, a New Zealand-based startup, built a low-cost, biotech technique for recovering precious metals from e-waste. This startup utilizes inexpensive materials and microbes for the recovery of metals from powdered and crushed electronic waste.

Forecast Analysis of the Precious Metals E-waste Recovery Market

The global precious metals e-waste recovery market is predicted to grow in the coming years due to rising costs of precious metals such as silver, gold, and many more. For instance, at the end of January 2021, the silver prices surged rapidly and iShares Silver Trust (SLV), the biggest exchange-traded fund that tracks silver, registered a price of $26.70 per ounce of silver. Apart from this, e-waste is a major threat to the environment as they contain substances such as brominated flame retardants (BFR) and mercury, thus resulting in market growth as well. As per an article published on dw.com, a total of 98 metric tons of CO2 and about 0.3% energy was released into the atmosphere in 2019 from discarded ACs and refrigerators that weren’t recycled. Furthermore, unregulated recycling of e-waste can lead to adverse conditions to the human body such as premature birth, stillbirth, damage to the nervous system or brain. Such types of health issues can affect market growth in the coming years.

According to a report offered by Research Dive, the global precious metals e-waste recovery market is estimated to gain $18,645.2 million from the 2022 to 2030 forecasted period. Also, the market is expected to showcase a promising future in the regions of Asia-Pacific due to high population density and massive usage of telecommunications and IT equipment.

Future Scope of the Market

The global precious metals e-waste recovery market is anticipated to prosper in the forthcoming years due to the adoption of new technologies for extracting metals. Furthermore, a rise in electronic trash due to an increase in the usage of digital gadgets is projected to augment the market growth in the coming decades. This market awaits a promising future for all the key companies and startups in the forthcoming years.