Sustainable recovery of pure copper from waste printed circuit boards

Nowadays, the rapid growth of electrical and electronic gadgets associated with their short life span is leading to a significant increase in the production of electronic and electric waste (e-waste). Printed circuit boards (PCBs) with copper as the main metal are the core part of e-waste and are considered a secondary source to recover copper. Among the different technologies, bioleaching is a green and sustainable process that uses microorganisms to produce essential leaching agents for metal solubilisation which is purified by the electrowinning process. This work aims to implement a costeffective bioleaching approach in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) for the recovery of pure copper, paving the way for process scale-up.