Your old laptops might hide Gold! Swiss scientists pull pure Gold from scrapped computer parts using 'cheese waste'

The precious yellow metal Gold has been on a run since the previous year, when its prices hit an all-time high, crushing charts.It is one of the most precious and trusted commodities that influences markets and economies and is passed down through generations as family heirlooms and a symbol of pride, stability, security, and status.Now, imagine rummaging through your old laptop drawer, only to find dusty gadgets packed with hidden riches. Electronic waste, or e-waste, is piling up worldwide, with over 60 million tons yearly, according to UN estimates. Most ends up shredded, burned, or buried, wasting precious metals like gold that could help new tech.But what if a simple kitchen byproduct could unlock this gold without toxic chemicals or massive energy bills?Researchers in Switzerland have cracked a clever code. They're using whey to pull pure gold from scrapped computer parts!

Can you extract Gold from e-waste with a cheese byproduct?

People often chuck old electronics like computer motherboards into the trash, unaware that each one contains about 450 milligrams of 22-carat gold. These boards pack thin gold pathways mixed with copper and other metals under plastic and fiberglass layers. Recycling them usually means shredding everything and blasting it with heat or harsh chemicals, which burns energy and creates messy waste.Scientists at ETH Zurich wanted a greener fix. Led by Professor Raffaele Mezzenga, they grabbed discarded boards headed for landfills and turned to whey, a cheap byproduct from cheese production that dairies treat as low-value slop.

As detailed in their 2024 Advanced Materials paper, whey proteins can be used as a powerful tool for metal recovery.

Researchers dig out Gold from waste with whey!

They heat whey proteins in acid to form tiny amyloid fibrils, which clump into a gel. Dried out, it becomes a porous "protein sponge" with massive surface area for grabbing metal ions. In tests with 20 old motherboards, the team dissolved the metal parts in acid, dunked the sponge in, and watched it selectively latch onto gold over iron, aluminum, or copper.Heating the loaded sponge then reduces the ions into metal bits, which melt into a 450 mg nugget, which is 91% pure 22-carat gold with 9% copper."The thing I like the most is that we’re using a food industry byproduct to obtain gold from electronic waste," said Professor Mezzenga, per ETH Zurich's release.The gold's value dwarfs whey's cost by 50 times, making it a winner economically.