2. Silver waste

The transformation of silver and its alloys into semi-finished and finished products generates waste (scrap, dust, etc.) which is recycled directly by the manufacturer or by refiners. The refiner or a specialized dealer also collects end-of-life items for recycling after consolidation. The activities leading to secondary silver are the art trades (jewelers, goldsmiths, silversmiths, mirror-makers), the electronic, electrotechnical and chemical industries, alloy metallurgy and the photographic industries and activities.

Given the low price of silver, electronic equipment is not in demand for this metal, which is however extracted in the scrap processing chain to separate it from other precious metals.

In their study of secondary silver circuits, Guerlet and Pianelli [2] consider...