Abstract
The globalization has brought forth a plethora of innovations and gadgets that make life easier; however, these advancements along with increasing demands for better technologies have led to the accumulation of electronic waste in the environment. E-waste encompasses all discarded, broken, or obsolete electronic items, viz. mobile phones, refrigerators, and printed circuit boards (PCBs). The main cause for concern is the non-biodegradable nature of these wastes which allows them to persist and accumulate in the ecosystem. The heavy metal counterparts of the waste can leach out and accumulate in the food chain, damaging the flora and fauna. Despite their environmental concerns, e-wastes are good source of recovering heavy metals and reusing them for industrial purposes. Bioleaching is an eco-friendly method which utilizes microbes to aid in leaching out heavy metals from e-wastes and has gained popularity owing to its sustainability. This method is applicable for a large range of metal ions, has lower energy requirements, and produces less pollutants. This chapter discusses the types of bioleaching processes, their use, and applicability in recovering heavy metals from printed circuit boards (PCBs) and spent batteries.
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Godbole, V., Kukrety, S., Gautam, P., Bisht, M., Pal, M.K. (2023). Bioleaching for Heavy Metal Extraction from E-waste: A Sustainable Approach. In: Debbarma, P., Kumar, S., Suyal, D.C., Soni, R. (eds) Microbial Technology for Sustainable E-waste Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25678-3_4
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