Seeks innovation in recovering untapped multi-billion-dollar electronic scrap industry in America.

Organizing an engaging competition to spur recycling of critical materials from electronic scrap, the U.S. Department of Energy launched its Electronics Scrap Recycling Advancement Prize (E-SCRAP), which will award up to $4 million for winning competitors.

Including mobile phones, home appliances, medical or office equipment and essentially any other consumer technology powered by electricity, e-waste represents one of the fastest growing waste streams globally, with generation expected to double 2014 levels by 2030.

According to DOE, roughly 17.9% of e-scrap was collected and recycled globally in 2019, leaving approximately 83% untouched in landfills and abandoning an estimated $57 billion in raw material value.

Despite the incentive to recycle, e-scrap recovery faces numerous roadblocks, including an inconsistent recycling value chain, complicated feedstock, and rapidly evolving end-use markets.

"This prize addresses the urgent need to reduce the amount of critical mineral waste that goes unrecycled in the technologies we use every day," said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Jeff Marootian. "We're excited to see how ideas and solutions spurred by the competition can transform this huge environmental loss into new opportunities to recover and recycle critical materials from devices that are discarded after use."

This competition announcement marks the first of three phases in E-SCRAP. The cash prizes and assistance awarded in the first two phases are intended to support teams as they advance in the competition.

• Phase 1: Incubate – During this phase, competitors will propose solutions that have the potential to substantially increase the amount of recovered critical materials from electronic waste and U.S. manufacturing.

• Phase 2: Prototype – Competitors will prototype their innovation and begin collecting and/or generating data that can be used to optimize techno-economic strategy and life cycle impacts between partners along the recycling value chain.

• Phase 3: Demonstrate – In the final phase, competitors will begin implementing their innovations and propose plans to scale their solutions.

Applications for the first phase are due Sept. 4th, 2024, at 5 p.m. EST. DOE anticipates selecting up to 10 winning projects in the first phase, with each phase reward consisting of $50,000 in cash and up to $30,000 in national laboratory analysis support.

Two informal webinars for potential applicants of E-SCRAP will be held on Mar. 27th and Jun. 18th.

You can read more about this opportunity and additional information regarding stipulations here.