CASE STUDY: From Pre-treatment to Precious Metals

Client: A local e-waste recycler based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 

Industry: Electronics Recycling 

Challenge: Moving beyond low-margin pretreatment to recover precious metals profitably, safely, and sustainably

About the Client

Operating out of Coimbatore, one of southern India's industrial hubs, this recycler had built a steady business collecting and pretreating e-waste, with printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) making up the bulk of incoming material. Their existing process was straightforward: thermally disassemble components, sort the materials, crush what remained into PCB granules, and sell those granules at copper-grade pricing. ICs, GPUs, connectors, and other component fractions were set aside in storage, waiting for a better option.

Like most recyclers in the region, their business stopped at pretreatment. The real value, trapped in the precious metals inside those boards, was being handed off to someone else downstream.

The Challenge

Three pressures pushed the recycler to rethink their model:

1. Leaving money on the table. The most valuable fraction of any e-waste stream is the precious metal content – gold first, then silver and platinum. By selling granules at copper prices and warehousing components, they were capturing only a fraction of what their material was worth.

2. Walking the green talk. The company had branded itself as a green recycler, but the traditional path to gold recovery runs through cyanide leaching. Cyanide's toxicity is well documented, and using it would undermined what their brand stood for.

3. Regulation closing in. India's environmental protection framework was tightening, and ESG expectations were rising from customers and regulators alike. A process that looked cheap today could become a liability tomorrow.

The UWin Solution

UWin provided a total solution covering every stage beyond the recycler's existing thermal disassembly setup: analysis, machine design and manufacture, testing, core chemical supply, and refining technology training. In short, a complete production line and training package.

The full process flow:

• Mix materials → Sorting → Target carbonization (thermal method to remove plastics)

• Crushing and shredding 

• Chemical leaching (collect gold-bearing liquid)

• Refining and purification → Sponge gold → Burn to ingots

The leaching chemistry is UWin's proprietary chemicals – cyanide-free and designed for safe, environmentally responsible operation.

Implementation: Data First, Then Equipment

UWin's approach starts before any machine is built.

Step 1: Paid analysis

The recycler sent a representative sample of their material stream to UWin's lab. The analysis delivered precise metal content, process parameters and financial breakdown projecting yield versus input costs.

Step 2: Feasibility modelling

With real numbers in hand, UWin ran the financial feasibility for the recycler's target production capacity, giving them a clear picture of payback period, operating margin, and the volume needed to hit profitability.

Step 3: Design and manufacture

UWin designed and fabricated the full production line to the agreed capacity. Before manufacturing kicked off, the recycler's team visited UWin's facility to walk through the design and discuss process details.

Step 4: Installation and training, and handover

UWin commissioned the line on site, trained the recycler's operating team on every step of the process, and remained on hand until the first gold ingots came out of the furnace.

The Outcome

The recycler transformed their business model.  They now recover gold, silver and platinum in-house, capturing the full value chain. Their green recycling brand is backed by a genuinely clean process that positions them ahead of India's tightening environmental regulations.