Metal recovery from Electronic wastes – can we consider vermin recovery along with the existing methods?

Abstract

The progressive changes witnessed in the global electronic sector has made many of the existing electronic devices obsolete. About 2 to 5 X 10¹⁰ kg/year of e-waste disposal is witnessed worldwide. India and China are the notable countries for high e-waste generation. Precious ferrous and non-ferrous metals are found abundant in e-waste. The existing methods of metal recovery releases harmful contaminants to the surrounding environment and affects the biota. Feasible and cost-effective techniques to recover metals are crucial as they help to minimize the burden of extraction from natural ores. It is of concern that we have to revisit the existing e-waste technologies, list the challenges and identify practical methods for safe disposal and better recovery of essential and economic metals. This paper attempts to portray the e-waste handling practices conducted at India, the challenges in recovering metals and proposes earthworms to recover metals from e-waste contaminated soils.