Incineration bottom ashes

Increasing precious metals containing materials, such as end-of-life electronics, end up in incineration furnaces. After the incineration process, the incinerator bottom ash (IBA) is separated into different fractions by specialized companies. The fine non-ferrous concentrate contains most of the precious metals that can be further processed to extract a.o. silver, gold, palladium, lead and copper.

As Umicore is focused on the recovery of precious metals, we can provide our refining service to recuperate metals in the fine heavy-metal fraction (<20mm), which have an elevated content of precious metals. This heavy-metal fraction, is the most heterogeneous material on the market as the composition depends on origin of the waste, source of the precious metals, preprocessing procedures etc. Umicore’s expertise in sampling and refining can accurately recycle the precious metals and several other metals present in the material.

With a history of over 130 years of dealing with precious metals, Umicore has the technology and the expertise to accurately sample, assay and refine these complex, precious metals bearing materials.