ROMEO is the first pilot plant in Italy to simplify the recycling of WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment). ROMEO, in fact, recovers valuable materials from old computers and mobile phones by means of a process at ‘room temperature’ and without pre-treatment of the electronic boards. Behind this innovative system is a team of ENEA researchers, determined to advance the Italian WEEE recycling chain from a circular economy perspective. ROMEO, which stands for Recovery Of MEtals by hydrOmetallurgy, uses a hydrometallurgical process, patented by the ENEA, and has a 95% yield in extracting gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, tin and lead from electronic circuit boards in WEEE. The system also has low energy costs and is in line with the true principles of circular economy, since the plant captures the gaseous emissions released in the process, treats them and transforms them into reagents to be reused in a new cycle. Hydrometallurgical techniques instead of conventional high-temperature pyrometallurgical techniques, as well as the absence of an initial waste shredding phase, reduce energy expenditure. In addition, the system is modular and flexible, two essential features. ROMEO can process even small quantities of electronic waste and choose the degree of purity of the recovered metal according to market requirements
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