Maxey Moverley has recently become one of the first organisations to use the Royal Mint’s new UK-based precious metals recovery facility. We are now using this service for printed circuit boards and electronic assemblies that can no longer be reused or repaired, ensuring that valuable materials are recovered responsibly rather than lost to landfill.
This collaboration supports our long-standing commitment to repair, reuse and responsible recycling, and demonstrates how innovative partnerships can help create a genuinely circular economy for electronics.
What is WEEE recycling?
WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) covers most electrical products that require a plug, battery or power supply. How these items are treated at end of life is increasingly important.
In many cases, electronic equipment fails due to a single faulty component, while much of the device remains functional. Disposing of entire units means that recoverable materials such as copper, gold and other precious metals are lost, and further mining and processing are required to replace them.
WEEE recycling focuses on recovering value from end-of-life equipment — either through reuse of serviceable components or through specialist processes that safely extract raw materials for use in new products.
The Royal Mint’s precious metals recovery programme
The Royal Mint has launched an innovative recovery programme that extracts gold from waste printed circuit boards and silver from archival medical X-ray film. Crucially, this processing is carried out in the UK, reducing transportation distances and associated carbon emissions.
The recovered metals are used to create new products, including the Royal Mint’s 886 sustainable jewellery collection, demonstrating how materials from obsolete electronics can be returned to productive use without further mining.
Why Maxey Moverley is involved
Electronics recycling is a natural extension of our repair-led business model. As specialists in electronic repair and refurbishment, our first priority is always to return equipment to service. When that is not technically or economically viable, we recover components for reuse wherever possible.
For printed circuit boards and assemblies that cannot be reused, the Royal Mint’s recovery programme provides a credible, UK-based route to ensure that precious metals remain in circulation. This allows us to integrate responsible recycling into our waste management process without undermining our focus on repair.
A circular economy in practice
Maxey Moverley operates a circular economy approach across its operations. This means minimising the use of new, finite materials and reducing waste by prioritising repair, refurbishment and component reuse. Items such as cables, fans, sensors and electronic modules are routinely recovered from non-repairable units and used to extend the life of other equipment.
Where direct reuse is no longer possible, specialist partners such as the Royal Mint ensure that materials are recovered efficiently and responsibly. This collaborative approach moves away from a linear “use and discard” model towards one based on material circulation and long-term value.
Recovering gold from existing electronics also avoids the significantly higher carbon emissions associated with mining, refining and transporting newly extracted precious metals. While recycling still has an environmental cost, it represents a substantial reduction compared with primary extraction.
How businesses can get involved
Organisations can make an immediate environmental impact by reconsidering how they manage faulty or end-of-life electronics. Most equipment fails because of a limited number of defective components, not because the entire system is obsolete.
By choosing repair and refurbishment wherever possible, businesses reduce waste, lower replacement costs and avoid the embedded carbon emissions of new equipment. Where repair is no longer viable, responsible recycling ensures that materials retain value rather than being discarded.
At Maxey Moverley, we see recycling not as an alternative to repair, but as the final and essential step in a sustainable electronics lifecycle.
Read More: Carbon Neutral Electronic Repair