Students from three study programmes
As part of the Urban Mining project, students are investigating how rare metals can be recovered from printed circuit boards and put back into use. Currently, many of these metals are lost in the electronic waste stream, despite being scarce, valuable and often difficult to mine due to geopolitical or environmental circumstances.
Students from three degree programmes are involved in the project: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Chemistry. Together, they have shown a way towards transitioning to a circular economy.
The project team consists of: Bálint Toth, Iris Bakker, Mohammed Bibi, Jesse Vermeulen, Ruben de Kruif, Djody Groeneweg, Noah Koch, Roan Bokhout, Yoël Omvlee, Said Keteldijk, Bunyamin Gürbüz, Quirijn Kroon and Yorian Neeleman.
Smart technology for maximum reuse
But how can valuable materials be extracted from discarded electronics? Technology plays a key role in this process. A smart robotic arm can recognise components on printed circuit boards and automatically remove and sort them. Mechanical engineering students are improving and optimising the gripper to ensure components remain intact for reuse. Electrical engineering students then use a circuit they have built themselves to test the reusability of these components.
Meanwhile, chemistry students focus on components that cannot be reused. They analyse them for the presence of critical raw materials and valuable metals. These chemical analyses are a key part of the project. The results enable the mechanical engineering students to further improve the sorting process. If several components contain the same metals, the robot does not need to sort them so specifically. This simplifies and streamlines the process.
Relay project
Urban Mining is a multi-year relay project. Each team of students builds on the work of the previous team and takes the project a step further. Quirijn explains the steps that this team has taken. 'For example,' he says, 'we added a heating element to the robotic arm. This enables us to heat the circuit board and desolder the components more easily. We also streamlined the algorithm that enables the robot to automatically recognise components, and we shared this algorithm online so that others can start working with it.’
However, the scanning technique used to determine the composition of components still has room for improvement. More accurate measurements would enable valuable elements to be recovered more efficiently. This offers new opportunities for future student teams.
Practice-oriented
The project has received a KIEM High-Tech grant from the SIA Taskforce for Applied Research. Students benefit from the ongoing insights of lecturer-researchers who collaborate with partners such as Auto Recycling Netherlands and the waste processing company Mirec. These strong links to the real world ensure that the research addresses current issues. Consequently, the findings are directly applicable.
According to the jury report, ‘Students are working on a concrete solution to a global strategic issue’. This exemplary project stands out as it demonstrates how technical innovation, practice-oriented education and societal impact can come together. It is therefore no surprise that it received widespread media coverage in trade journals and on NOS Radio 1 News.
The Future Makers Awards are presented annually during the opening ceremony to projects in which education, research and the professional field collaborate on societal challenges. There is a prize for each of the challenges that Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences champions: Future-Proof Economy, Sustainable Delta, Vibrant Community and Smart & Social City .