A new factory has been constructed to extract gold from circuit boards found in everyday e-waste.

The Royal Mint has committed to recovering high-purity gold from e-waste, unveiling a newly constructed 3,700 square-meter factory in South Wales pledged to reduce dependence on new material mining and support more sustainable industry practices.

"We are transforming our business for the future – expanding into areas which complement our expertise in precious metals, champion sustainability, and support employment," said The Royal Mint CEO Anne Jessop.

The process uses a proprietary room-temperature process with chemistry from Canadian cleantech company Excir that enables a more energy-efficient and cost-effective method of gold recovery.

Co-founded in 2017 by Hiwa Salimi and Loghman Moradi, Excir's pioneering technology facilitates efficient precious metal extraction from secondary sources, including waste streams such as e-waste, spent catalysts, and scrap jewelry. Excir's extremely mild and eco-friendly solution can be recycled with negligible environmental impact. The new factory has scaled the technology up to an industrial capacity for the first time and can process up to 4,000 metric tons of e-waste every year.

Recovered gold is already being used in The Royal Mint's 886 luxury jewelry collection.

The company says 886 "is the first jewelry brand to create a sustainable supply of e-waste gold on its own site, sourced and manufactured from the UK."

The silver used in its 886 jewelry comes from archival medical X-ray film within the UK.

"Less than 20% of electronic waste is currently recycled world-wide and an estimated 7% of the world's gold is locked-away in e-waste, along with other usable metals and materials," says The Royal Mint's website. "This means that gold, silver, copper and other highly valued metals, valued at US $57 billion, are being discarded as opposed to being collected for treatment and reuse. Our process provides a way to recover this gold – a finite, valuable material, as well as showcasing a more sustainable solution to the growing e-waste problem."

Jessop said the opening of the Precious Metals Recovery factory marks a pivotal step in the company's journey. "We are not only preserving finite precious metals for future generations, but we are also preserving the expert craftmanship The Royal Mint is famous for by creating new jobs and reskilling opportunities for our employees. We have ambitious plans, and I am proud that we are safeguarding The Royal Mint for another 1,100 years."

The Royal Mint has also engaged with major industry bodies to help produce the first standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for the definition of recycled gold, to give the world recycled gold with provenance.

"The factory underpins our commitment to using sustainable precious metals and providing a new source of high quality, recovered gold. It allows us to reduce our reliance on mined materials and is another example of how we're working to decarbonise our operations," said Sean Millard, chief growth officer at The Royal Mint. "Our commitment to growth, innovation and circular economy principles shapes an exciting and more sustainable future for The Royal Mint, our people and our communities."