1. The role of leachable foam in extracting metals from WEEE

1.1 WEEE treatment methods

Recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment feeds the non-ferrous metals market, notably by reducing CO ₂ production and saving mineral resources. Although precise data are difficult to obtain, it was possible to estimate, for example in Europe, the copper deposit present in WEEE at almost 900,000 t in 2014. With a recycling rate of around 40%, this deposit represents an important source of copper for European industry, whose demand for the manufacture of semi-finished products (powders, foils, rods...) was of the order of 3,10 ⁶ t that same year