Biotechnological Recycling and Recovery of Metals from Waste Printed Circuit Boards and Spent Li-ion Batteries—Selected Results from the ERAMIN EU BaCLEM Project

This project investigated metal recovery from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) and spent lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) using pure and mixed-culture acidophilic microorganisms. It was shown that the mixed culture could recover 80% of Li and 98% of Co from a representative LiB sample under shaken flask conditions while using a single acidophilic microorganism in a two-step bioleaching step, 82% of Cu and 100% of Ni could be recovered from PCBs. The removal of iron from the bi-oleaching solution reached 100% using NaOH.