20.500.12556/DiRROS-23011 Eco-friendly bioleaching innovative technology for extracting critical raw materials from WEE The rapid growth of the quantity of generated electronic waste (ewaste), driven by the increasing demand for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), has raised urgent concerns regarding its environmental and health impacts. E-waste is the fastes tgrowing global waste stream, with only a small fraction recycled sustainably. Printed circuit boards (PCBs), a major component of e-waste, contain valuable metals and hazardous substances, complicating recycling efforts. This study explores bioleaching as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional recycling methods. Bioleaching, utilising microorganisms such as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and A. thiooxidans, which can effectively extracts metals like copper, nickel, and zinc from e-waste, reducing environmental contamination. Our research, conducted under the EIT RawMaterials WEEE-NET9 project, focuses on bioleaching's potential for sustainable recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) from e-waste. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of bioleaching in metal extraction, supporting the EU's goals of increasing CRM recycling and reducing reliance on primary sources for critical materials, which we have to import into the EU. e-waste critical raw materials circular economy bioleaching EIT RawMaterials WEEE-NET9 project e-odpadki kritični materiali krožno gospodarstvo biološko luženje projekt EIT RawMaterials WEEE-NET9 true false true University of Maribor, University Press Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik © 2025 Univerza v Mariboru, Univerzitetna založba Neznano 2025-07-16 09:06:13 2025-07-16 09:13:01 2025-10-24 03:52:56 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 Str. 97-110 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2025-03-03 620.1/.2 241236995 227616771 https://press.um.si/index.php/ump/catalog/book/949/chapter/244 0 5f799e9f-6213-11f0-9bb7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=33665 prispevek_Eco-friendly_bioleaching_241236995.pdf prispevek_Eco-friendly_bioleaching_241236995.pdf 1 EB6AA1EA58B60FA54D36207F90BBD1C4 592e13a2bddf04f33a1f4a0b74c25904e05a14a22c47450d0e6fca5a76dd3a7b 4b65a7ce-6214-11f0-9bb7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=33666 Zavod za gradbeništvo Slovenije 0 0 0