ABSTRACT
Techno-economic assessment and environmental sustainability analysis carried out early in
research, development and innovation (RD&I) projects may lead emerging technologies toward
a better environmental profile. This chapter describes a case study for anticipatory techno-
economic and environmental sustainability analysis that incorporates technology forecasting,
cost-benefit analysis, and comparative impact assessment applied to a novel metal recovery
technology from electronic waste material. The main objective is to compare, from a techno-
economic and environmental point of view, different alternatives to metal recovery from
electronic waste. Three case studies for chemical, biological and hybrid treatment of electronic
waste for metals recovery are drafted and their environmental sustainability was assessed. The
initial capital investment and operational costs for future resource recovery plant from early
stage have been estimated and a cost-benefit analysis has been carried out. The average value
of metal recovery of 1 kg of discarded PCB was 11.83 EUR. Taking into account the revenues
and the total capital investment costs, 5.1, 2.4 and 4.3 years of return of interest were calculated
for the biological, chemical, and hybrid process alternatives, respectively. In general, chemical
technologies performed better than biological technologies, in terms of metal extraction and
recovery efficiency. Environmental sustainability assessment revealed that biological treatment
of base metals in acidophilic consortium is more advantageous than chemical leaching,
However, in case of gold leaching, chemical leaching was less impactful than biological
leaching. Thus, a hybrid approach is recommended in order to find a balance between high
metal recovery yield and environmental sustainability. This case study illustrates the potential
for ex ante LCA to prioritize research questions and help to guide environmentally responsible
innovation actions taken in development of an emerging metal recovery technology.
