Precious metals are crucial, yet often invisible in our everyday life. They are key materials that enable consumer electronics function, found in our mobile phones and computers. Keep our air clean in automotive catalysts or support key industrial processes in industrial catalysts. Moreover, they have the unique characteristic of being infinitely recyclable.
For over 20 years, Umicore Precious Metals Refining (UPMR) is a leading market reference in the assay-based refining of complex, precious metals bearing materials. Our innovative flowsheet, vast expertise in sampling and assaying, and our rigid ethical standards guarantee proper and environmentally sound valorisation of your materials.
Precious Metals Refining is well equipped to accurately determine the composition and efficiently refine a large variety of end of life products containing precious metals. Our tailor-made team will guide you through the process. We turn the waste of yesterday into materials for tomorrow.
E-scrap
Electronic scrap is a highly complex and heterogeneous group of materials. We have the expertise required to correctly valorise and refine different types of precious metal bearing e-scrap. Umicore works with an assay-based settlement and typically valorises silver, gold, palladium and copper. Elements such as aluminium and iron are not valorised, and we recommend removing these fractions beforehand as much as possible. Below you may find an overview of the typical materials we work with, and the ideal lot sizes.
| Materials | More information | Minimum required volume | |
| Printed circuit boards | 10 tons |  |
|
| Cell phones and other small IT devices without batteries |
Batteries can be recycled as a seperate material by UBR | 2 tons |  |
| CPU, IC, connectors | 1 to 5 tons |  |
|
| Laptops without batteries & screen |
10 tons |  |
|
| Shredded fractions with printed circuit boards |
From mechanical pre-processing of e-scrap | 25 to 100 tons |  |
| Other precious metal bearing fractions |
Please contact us to find out more |