Rethinking Mining: Carbon Footprint Benchmark of Precious Metal Recovery from Mobile Devices under Business-as-Usual and Recovery & Reuse Scenarios *Javier.E. Barreda Joo1, José.M.A Cerdan-Morillo2 1Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peru, 2Laboratory of Biological Processes, Center for Research, Development and Innovation in Environmental Engineering, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo (USP) (*Presenting author: javier.barreda@utec.edu.pe) ABSTRACT The global energy transition is intensifying demand for precious and base metals, increasing pressure on conventional mining and its associated greenhouse gas emissions. Urban mining, through the recovery and reuse (R&R) of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), offers a complementary supply pathway for resource-producing countries. This study quantifies the carbon footprint associated with energy consumption across three metal supply models: conventional mining (Business as Usual, BAU), recovery and reuse of mixed electronic boards (R&R), and recovery and reuse of mobile phone electronic boards (R&R-MP). The analysis is based on WEEE generated in Peru and exported for advanced pyro-hydrometallurgical treatment in Europe, explicitly incorporating collection, pre-treatment, international transport, and metallurgical processing. Emissions are assessed under a consistent functional unit of supplying 1 kg of gold, 1 kg of silver, and 1 kg of copper. Results show that the BAU model generates 29.51 tCO₂eq for the joint supply of these metals, compared to 10.16 tCO₂eq under the R&R model and 1.74 tCO₂eq under the R&R-MP model, representing a 94.10% reduction relative to conventional mining. The reduction is primarily driven by gold, reflecting its low geological grade in primary ores and high concentration in electronic waste, particularly in mobile phone boards. Quantitatively, the carbon footprint associated with the production of 1 kg of gold reaches 29.22 tCO₂eq under the BAU model, while it decreases to 8.57 tCO₂eq per kg in the R&R model and to 1.22 tCO₂eq per kg when highgrade mobile phone WEEE streams are prioritized (R&R-MP). These findings indicate that urban mining can substantially reduce emissions when metals are recovered jointly and high-grade WEEE streams are prioritized, positioning R&R as a relevant complement to primary mining for strengthening low-carbon and resilient mineral value chains in resource-producing countries. KEYWORDS Carbon footprint; e-waste, urban mining; business as usual (BAU); recovery and reuse (R&R)
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