Veolia mining pharmaceuticals’ hidden treasures

United Kingdom – Recycling group Veolia has taken decisive steps in the UK to recover precious metals from obsolete medicines and to reuse them in new drugs, aided by pharmaceuticals company Accord Healthcare. To demonstrate the potential, a pair of platinum rings each weighing around 4.5 grams with a retail value of around £1200 (Euro 1370) have been made entirely from metal mined from obsolete pharmaceuticals.

A large number of specialist medications contain traces of precious metals. In common with all pharmaceutical products, medications have a limited shelf life and, once this expires, they must be sent for secure destruction. However, scientists at Veolia’s hazardous waste facility near Liverpool can now remove the precious metals using a two-step recovery process.

‘This work really shows that we need to look at all waste materials to see what hidden value we can extract,’ comments Kevin Hurst, ceo industrial customers at Veolia UK. ‘This innovative collection of tiny amounts of platinum has now enabled us to create something that is unique. As mining has a significant impact on the environment, recovery techniques that maximise reuse make sound economic sense in the highly-volatile metals market. It also lowers emissions as each gram of recovered platinum saves 14 kg of CO2 compared to extracting ore.’

The rings were developed as part of Veolia’s wider Imagine 2050 report highlighting the challenges of population growth, resource scarcity, ever-increasing consumer demands on energy, waste and water, and carbon emission reduction, as well as demonstrating how sustainability and technology advances will shape resource efficiency.

According to the Veolia report, the pharmaceutical and chemical industries alone account for Euro 870 million of hidden value in unutilised resources.