A researcher from the University of Toronto, prof. Gisele Azimi has developed a method of recovering critical minerals from recycled electronic waste.

Her process involves heating and pressurizing CO2 to transform it into a supercritical fluid, which can then be used to dissolve and extract critical metals from their surroundings. The collection rate using this method is 20 to 38 percent, much higher than the 1 to 2 percent concentration found in conventionally mined ores. Prof. Azimi has successfully applied this process to metals from car batteries, wind turbine magnets, and fluorescent lightbulbs. She is now working on piloting the technique, improving profitability, and recovering gold and copper from old circuit boards.