Researchers from Switzerland have found millions of dollars’ worth of silver, as well as other precious metals, in the country’s wastewater.
This week Edgylabs reports on the discovery that $1.8 million (€1.5 million) worth of silver ends up in Swiss wastewater each year, with researchers also discovering gold and traces of other precious metals and rare-earth metals.
Describing the find as “a golden opportunity for Switzerland”, the article describes this finding as one that “could eventually revolutionise the tech industry”, as the implementation of circular economy practices would mean the reuse of these valuable waste findings.
While “Eawag reports that recovering the sewage waste isn’t economically viable right now” it does suggest that “with the right infrastructure it could”. There is also a suggestion that US sewers could be found to contain gold.
Other countries, such as Japan, already make use of the precious metals found in their waste, with Japan yielding more gold per pound from burning its waste than “some of the highest-performing mines in the world.”
The article claims that the recycling of these precious metals, using circular economy methods, “could reduce scarcity for tech industry companies”, saying that “Switzerland could reinvest these precious metal findings into tech and innovation”. With significant extraction, it could even cause “a mini-disruption of the global REE market”, particularly in the wake of China’s recent waste ban.
By increasing its wastewater precious metal extraction procedures, Switzerland – and other countries who also opt to implement circular economy processes – “could become somewhat less dependent upon external sources of precious and rare-earth metals” and improve the longevity of their economies as well as becoming more environmentally sustainable.