‘Mining’ valuable metals from discarded LEDs
Although light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs are more energy-efficient than fluorescent lights while in use, they can still pose a problem environmentally at the end of their service life. Mineral processing engineer Maria Holuszko and PhD student Amit Kumar from the University of British Columbia’s (UBC’s) urban mining program have developed a response to this issue, creating a recovery method for metals in LEDs.