Deakin - Coventry Cotutelle - Recycling of metals from e-textiles using microbiology-based approaches

The project aims to develop sustainable microbiology-based approaches to recover metals from e-textiles in an environment-friendly way. Metallized textiles are well established in electromagnetic interference shielding and static dissipation, but also their application in wearables is gaining increasing attention. E-textiles can be used instead of traditional wiring technology, enabling exciting applications such as pressure sensing, heating textiles, integration of electronics, ‘soft circuits and others. High electric conductivity desirable for e-textile applications can be achieved by plating metals on the surface of the textile, printing metal loaded inks, incorporating metallic wires and threads into the textile, PVD etc.

The World’s deposits of base and precious metals are rapidly depleting, while the global demand is increasing. Recycling of metals from electronic and urban wastes (including e-textiles) is a sustainable way to protect our natural resources and secure the global metal supply. Current metal recycling processes include pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, with high costs and energy consumption and potential negative impacts on the environment. Bioleaching, which uses microorganisms to solubilize metals, has been shown to be an economically sustainable and environment-friendly alternative to the conventional techniques.

Bioleaching will be an integral part of the low-waste recycling technology developed within this project in agreement with the principles of the circular economy. The technology will comprise (i) solubilisation of metals from e-textiles using microorganisms (including strictly controlled microbial processes in bioreactors), and (ii) recovery of dissolved metals using electrochemical (and other) methods. The main objectives are to assess different e-textiles for metal recycling (including their type and structure), develop a sustainable bioleaching design (with high e-textile loads and high metal solubilization rates), and recover high-quality products from metal-rich leachates. The cross-institute project will bring together expertise from Coventry University (UK) and Deakin University (Australia).