(To subscribers.) “Now we are moving forward like a tiger.” This is how Risto Ryymi, Development Manager at Alva Companies and Acting CEO of the new Zero Mine Solutions Oy, describes it. Alva Companies,…
Zero Mine Solutions, which recovers critical raw materials from electronic waste, advances to the environmental permit stage: The Jyväskylä facility would first recycle gold and valuables from circuit boards
A new type of recycling plant planned for Jyväskylä has advanced to the environmental permit stage.
A joint venture between Alva, Elker and Tapojärvi Zero Mine Solutions Oy has submitted an environmental permit application. The permitting authorities are now starting to assess the application based on the requirements of environmental protection legislation.
Zero Mine utilizes hydrometallurgical technology developed in Finland. The patented technology separates critical metals from electrical and electronic waste and returns them to industrial raw materials of high quality.
The facility is like an urban mine
The company partners describe the operation as “mining without mining.”
“The critical raw materials Europe needs can be found in products that are already in use. Zero Mine’s goal is to build a new Finnish circular economy business around them. The filing of the environmental permit is an important step for us towards the implementation of the plant and the launch of commercial operations,” says the acting CEO of Zero Mine Solutions Oy. Risto Ryymi.
The goal is to build a pre-commercial recycling plant worth approximately 40–50 million euros in Jyväskylä.
Circuit boards yield gold, silver, and critical raw materials
In the first phase, the Zero Mine facility processes circuit boards from discarded electrical and electronic devices, separating gold, silver, copper and palladium, among other things.
In the future, the aim is to also recover rare earth metals, such as neodymium.
All of these metals are needed in solutions such as electrification, renewable energy and the electronics industry. Their recovery supports the availability and security of supply of critical raw materials in Europe and reduces dependence on the exploitation of new natural resources.
Text: Uusiuutisten editorial team
Photo: Adobe Stock. Zero Mine's facility separates gold, silver, copper, and palladium from the circuit boards of discarded electrical and electronic devices.
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