We all have at least one electronic device abandoned in a drawer or in a box relegated to the attic, waiting to figure out how to dispose of it, without knowing that it is a useful resource.
WEEE – Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment – contains several precious metals, such as gold, silver, copper and palladium, which, thanks to their recycling, can be reintroduced into the production cycle, contributing to the circular economy, avoiding new extractions and promoting strategic autonomy.
Over the past few days, the fourth and fifth classes of the IIS Olivetti and the Gramsci and Botta high schools in Ivrea have been able to find out more about the realities of WEEE recovery, thanks to meetings with Società Canavesana Servizi Spa and Osai GreenTech SB S.r.l.
In these weeks, in fact, SCS is structuring several activities related to the realisation of the Rigeneraee project, financed by the WEEE Coordination Centre, which envisages, on the one hand, the activation of a proximity micro-collection of small electronic waste in the area’s middle schools and in the served municipalities with more than 2,000 inhabitants, and, on the other hand, communication and awareness-raising initiatives aimed at citizens, the municipalities themselves, teachers, and students.
Giorgio Canori, Technical Sales of the Benefit Company belonging to the Osai Group, had the opportunity to explain to the boys and girls involved in the project how the company applies automation in the world of recycling and the RE4M system – Recycling 4 Manufacturing, the world’s first fully automated, low-emission industrial plant capable of producing 200 kg of ethical gold per year from 300 tonnes of processed electronic boards. “The circular economy is the right way to go and the rapid turnover of electronic devices is creating an increasingly pressing environmental challenge. Young people are ready to trigger a real green revolution and it is right to engage with them and make them understand what a valuable source of materials WEEE is.”
OSAI Green Tech SB S.r.l., as a Società Benefit, pursues, among its aims of common benefit, the improvement of waste management in the community, and for this reason aims to become a driving force for the improvement and increase of efficient recycling and recovery of waste in the territory, in order to favour the transition towards more circular economic models aimed at waste valorisation with particular focus on WEEE.
After the challenge with the treatment of electronic boards, Osai GreenTech is now studying a new effective, efficient and sustainable technology for the valorisation of photovoltaic waste, capable of combining industrial automation and innovation. A concrete answer to the problem of the treatment of end-of-life photovoltaic panels. In fact, it is estimated that by 2050 there will be over 78 million tonnes of old panels, from which it will be essential to recover as many reusable materials as possible: precious metals, including silver and copper, and secondary raw materials, including glass, to be reintroduced into production cycles.
