Engineering Microbial Metal Recovery (EMMR)

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The Engineering Microbial Metal Recovery (EMMR) consortium brings together a unique group of world-renowned academics to develop an entirely new approach for recovering valuable metals from the expanding supplies of electronic waste (e-waste), that is currently destined for disposal as landfill. Using the tools of genetic engineering, will be fine-tune naturally-occurring bacteria to recognise and accumulate metals including gold and "rare earth elements" that are common in discarded phones and batteries. Gold is one of the most valuable metals lost in e-waste, and the rare earth elements are a limited resource that are required to power our growing green economy (being vital components of electric car batteries, wind turbines and other green energy technologies). Working with industrial partners, we will test our engineered bacteria against real wastes from industry, helping convert the 40 million plus tonne global e-waste problem, to a resource that can help power the global circular economy.