The Urban Mining of Printed Circuit Boards in France: What is the Potential Resource of Critical and Strategic Metals? The Case of Smartphones and Laptops
Abstract
Geopolitical tensions are exacerbating the challenges associated with the supply of critical and strategic metals, prompting European and French policymakers to promote the recycling of metals contained in printed circuit boards (PCBs) derived from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Few studies have assessed the potential of PCBs in France; however, transforming this potential into a resource requires overcoming several obstacles relating to collection, management, dismantling and recycling. This article aims to estimate the potential stock of end-of-life motherboards from smartphones and laptops in France by 2027. It focuses in particular on five metals: gold, silver, nickel, copper and palladium. The estimate is based on data relating to market placement and product life cycles provided by ADEME (the French Agency for Ecological Transition), data from the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (Touzé et al., 2024) and data from the scientific literature. An estimate of the economic potential of this deposit was carried out, taking into account the efficiency of metal separation processes. The results indicate a deposit representing several thousand tonnes of PCBs and several million euros in terms of economic recovery potential.
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BibTeX
@misc{berdier2026urban,
title = {{The Urban Mining of Printed Circuit Boards in France: What is the Potential Resource of Critical and Strategic Metals? The Case of Smartphones and Laptops}},
author = {Chantal Berdier and Mathilde Girault and Muriel Maillefert},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.20944/preprints202610.1187.v1},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05800817v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The Urban Mining of Printed Circuit Boards in France: What is the Potential Resource of Critical and Strategic Metals? The Case of Smartphones and Laptops
AU - Chantal Berdier
AU - Mathilde Girault
AU - Muriel Maillefert
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - HAL
DO - 10.20944/preprints202610.1187.v1
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05800817v1
AB - Geopolitical tensions are exacerbating the challenges associated with the supply of critical and strategic metals, prompting European and French policymakers to promote the recycling of metals contained in printed circuit boards (PCBs) derived from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Few studies have assessed the potential of PCBs in France; however, transforming this potential into a resource requires overcoming several obstacles relating to collection, management, dismantling and recycling. This article aims to estimate the potential stock of end-of-life motherboards from smartphones and laptops in France by 2027. It focuses in particular on five metals: gold, silver, nickel, copper and palladium. The estimate is based on data relating to market placement and product life cycles provided by ADEME (the French Agency for Ecological Transition), data from the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (Touzé et al., 2024) and data from the scientific literature. An estimate of the economic potential of this deposit was carried out, taking into account the efficiency of metal separation processes. The results indicate a deposit representing several thousand tonnes of PCBs and several million euros in terms of economic recovery potential.
ER -