The United Kingdom (UK) will be home to its first commercial refinery for extracting precious metals from electronic waste. The refinery will use bacteria-based processes instead of the more environmentally harmful cyanide-based processes to remove precious metals—including gold, palladium, silver and copper—from electronic waste (e-waste). The refinery is part of the UK’s plan to build a circular economy and reduce its reliance on exporting waste to other countries for recycling.