In an era of rapidly advancing technology and ever-increasing consumption of electronic devices, the management of electronic waste – also known as e-waste – is becoming a key challenge for the modern world. Electronic scrap contains not only valuable metals but also harmful substances that can be recovered. One option is to use the services of companies specialising in this field, which offer purchase of electronic scrap . Thanks to these, it is possible to professionally recover valuable components and safely dispose of harmful substances. In this article, we will explain what electronic scrap is, what precious metals it contains, and what to do with electronic waste to help protect the environment and promote sustainable development.
Prices for electronic waste on the market range from 4 zł to as much as 1,400 zł per kilogram, which reflects the diversity and value of the raw materials contained in this waste. The value of electronic scrap is determined by its precious metal content, which is generally higher in old electronic equipment dating back 20–30 years. The older and more advanced the electronic scrap, the higher the price.
Where are precious metals found in electronics?
Precious metals in electronics are found in PCB circuits, which consist of three main raw materials:
- metals – tantalum and gallium (rare-earth elements); gold, silver and platinum (precious metals); copper (semi-precious metal); chromium, lead, mercury, beryllium, cadmium, zinc, nickel (hazardous metals);
- organic materials - plastics containing additives that reduce polarity, paper, polymers with or without chlorine and bromine additives, nylon and polyurethane;
- ceramic materials (ceramics) – inorganic oxygen compounds with silicon, aluminium or beryllium, mica and barium titanate.
Several types of insulating materials (laminates) are used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards (PCBs). These are often based on glass-fibre-reinforced epoxy resin or paper impregnated with phenolic resin. These laminates contain an admixture of organic compounds containing chlorine or bromine to reduce flammability – flame retardants (FR), such as pentabromophenol (C6Br5OH).
Conductive tracks are usually made of copper (Cu). Conductive elements made of nickel (Ni), silver (Ag), gold (Au), tin (Sn) or zinc-lead alloy (Zn-Pb). Electronic components also consist of many metals and chemical compounds; for example, electronic capacitors contain tantalum (Yes), integrated circuits are a mixture of gallium (Ga), Hindu (In), talu (Ti), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), arsenic (Ace), antimony (Sat), selenium (Se) and tellurium (These) connector circuits and ceramic components are primarily aluminium(III) oxide (Al₂O₃), beryllium(II) oxide (BeO) and glass.
Where can we find precious metals in electronic scrap?
Gold (Au): Gold is widely used in electronics due to its excellent electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion. It is mainly found in processors, integrated circuits, plugs, sockets, gold-plated combs and decorative items.
Silver (Ag): Silver is also used in electronics, particularly in components that conduct electricity. The most common examples are silver-plated electrical connectors and tin containing silver
Palladium (Pd): Palladium is used in certain types of capacitors, diodes, electrodes and transducers, as well as in the manufacture of certain integrated circuits.
Platinum (Pt): Although less common than gold or silver, platinum is also found in some electronic waste. Platinum can be found in thermocouples,
Tantalum (Ta) core: Tantalum is used in the manufacture of capacitors, particularly tantalum capacitors.
And, less commonly:
- Niobium (Nb) core: Niobium is sometimes used in capacitors.
- Ruten (Ru): Ruten may be present in certain integrated circuits.
- Rod (Rh): Rhodium may be present in certain electronic components, such as connectors.
Precious metals: the case of RAM
RAM is a perfect example of a circuit board that illustrates where precious metals are found. On it, we can find gold-plated copper traces, integrated circuits, diodes, resistors and gold- or silver-plated connectors
Depending on the manufacturer, the amount of precious metals in devices or circuits of the same type may vary several-fold, as shown in the table below for DRAM memory:
How much precious metal is there in electronic devices?
The amount of precious metals in a given device depends on the type of electronics, the materials used and the manufacturing technology.
Below are a few selected examples of the precious metal content in various devices:
Laptop
The average laptop contains ~0.2 grams of gold
RAM
A single RAM module with gold-plated contacts contains between 0.006 and 0.009 g of gold.
Gold is found on the printed circuit board, on the pins and in the integrated circuits
Processors
Processors contain a great deal of gold. The older the processor, the more gold it contains. Below are a few examples of the gold content in a single processor:
NEC (server chip – R10000) – 0.27 g
Toshiba (server chip) – 0.27 g
AMD K5 – 0.4 g
Pentium Pro – 0.3 to 0.5 g
Cyrix 586 – 0.25 g
Cyrix 6×86-P166+GP 133 MHz – 0.22 g
IBM 686 PR200 – 0.25 g
Original Intel Pentium 60 MHz – 90 MHz 0.48 g
Alpha DEC – 0.38 g Ag / 0.34 g Au
Cyrix 486 – 0.11 g
IBM 586 – 0.1 g
IBM Blue Lightning DX2 486-V580 gA – 0.11 g Texas Instruments 486 – 0.1 g
Intel 486SX – 0.1 g
i486 TX 486DLC - 0.12
Cyrix 686 – 0.21 g
Cyrix MII – 0.18 g Winchip – 0.17 g
Intel 486 DX4 – 0.19 g
Intel 486 + DX2 – 0.20 g
Intel I960 – 0.16 g per CPU
AMD 486 – 0.12 g
Mobile phone (old)
A single old-style mobile phone contains ~15 g of copper, ~0.14 g of silver and ~0.06 g of gold
To obtain as many precious metals as there are in one tonne of old-style mobile phones, you would need to mine around 1,000 times as much metal ore.
Smartphone
Apple’s smartphones contain the most gold of any smartphones produced. The average iPhone contains ~0.034g of gold. This means that there is ~136 grams of gold in one tonne of iPhones.
Telephone and payment cards
Integrated circuits mounted on a flexible printed circuit board, which is plated on both sides with a thick layer of high-quality gold, contain between 13 and 25 g per 1 kg of pure, stripped flexible printed circuit board.
Based on our experience in the recovery of precious metals from electronic scrap, we can state that from 1 tonne of electronic waste (PCB boards) prepared for the recovery of precious metals, the following can be recovered:
Copper (20%), iron (8%), tin (4%), nickel (2%), lead (2%), zinc (1%), silver (0.2%), gold (0.1%), palladium (0.005%) and other precious metals (e.g. tantalum, germanium, selenium and tellurium).
Of course, the yield of precious metals in PCBs depends on the source of the boards. PCBs from medical, military or telecommunications equipment will contain more valuable raw materials, whilst those from domestic appliances will contain significantly less.
If you have electronic waste, electronic devices, or old circuit boards, connectors or gold-plated components, please contact us for pricing information.
We guarantee the best prices for electronic waste, end-of-life equipment, and gold-plated and silver-plated metals such as copper, brass and aluminium.
For detailed information on the prices of electronic scrap, please contact an RMC Polska representative.
We send the electronic equipment we purchase to a recycling plant operated by RADO, which forms part of the same group of companies as RMC Polska.
