News and stories
Discover news and views from around the world on the global e-waste conversation.
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Panel discussion: Critical minerals in the circular economy
We organised a panel discussion jointly with the Critical Minerals Association in which we discussed how to implement a circular economy for critical raw materials.
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Position statement: Recovering the critical raw materials in batteries
We’re asking the government to take action on UK battery collection and recycling infrastructure, with a view to recovering the critical raw materials in them. Read our position statement.
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RSC journals web collection
This cross-journal web collection highlights the latest research published in Royal Society of Chemistry journals from chemical scientists across the world to solve this global issue.
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Mobile phones change design of solar panels
Case study: Engineers are already redesigning solar panels to pre-empt a shortage of precious elements fuelled by our insatiable demand for personal technology such as mobile phones.
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Whisky-inspired filter dram-atically improves e-waste recovery
Case study: A filtration system inspired by whisky distillation products is helping to cleanly recover precious metals from waste gadgets.
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Sustainable elements for energy storage
In our new video series, we meet four scientists who are working on sourcing, retaining, and recycling the materials and rare elements in batteries needed for sustainable energy storage.
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COVID-19 lockdowns lead to UK tech sales boom and adds to e-waste problem
Our global survey showed that technology usage increased sharply due to the pandemic – with lockdowns and working from home arrangements causing people to purchase more equipment.
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Millions of old gadgets ‘stockpiled in drawers’
Explore the BBC coverage of our first precious elements campaign in 2019, which showed that there could be at least 40 million unused devices being stored in UK homes.
Got a story you’d like to share?
If you’re a scientist or innovator working on solutions to the e-waste crisis, we want to hear from you.