HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN

With demand for rare earth elements (REEs) rapidly outgrowing current supply, there is an urgent need to establish a new, more sustainable source of REEs. Here at Neocycle, our vision is to power this shift towards more sustainable methods of REE recovery in order to meet the needs of the future. The only way to address these needs is to integrate our stakeholders and end users at every stage of our development process.

We have therefore employed an iterative design process throughout our project lifecycle, developing a solution that is, first and foremost, human-centered. This is the story of the people who inspired and informed Neocycle, helping us at each stage of our integrative human practices in order to grow Neocycle into a sustainable and effective solution.

UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM

As their name implies, concentrated deposits of REE ore are rare in the earth’s crust [1]. Where ore deposits can be found, they are often mixed in with hazardous radioactive elements, and are difficult to extract and separate [1]. In order to extract useful metals from these ores, a complex series of processes is required. This processing uses up large quantities of strong acids, organic solvents, and other environmentally and physically harmful chemicals, and produces radioactive wastes in the process [1]. Mining of REEs is therefore extremely detrimental to the environment. Despite this, due to a lack of recycling options, nearly all REEs used are freshly mined. Only 1% of REEs from e-waste are currently recycled.

This mining market is extremely concentrated within China, which produces roughly 90% of the world’s REE supply [1]. Monopoly on REE supply can be extremely risky in the case of trade restrictions and conflict. As we learned from Kelly Sellers at Noah Chemicals, trade disputes have sometimes cut off REE supplies to entire countries for political reasons, devastating their technology sectors.

REE-based technologies like phones, computers, and green energy systems are so vital to our modern societies - a single wind-turbine may require 600kg of REEs to build, for instance [1]. With such an importance, it becomes incredibly vital to ensure a stable, reliable, and eco-friendly supply for the future. And with demand for these metals growing by 12% every year and rapidly overtaking current supply capacity, that need only grows [3]. In order to ensure that we are able to continue to innovate and develop new technologies without our planet paying the cost, we need to close the loop on REE use and find a way to reuse the perfectly usable REEs that end up in the landfill every year. We therefore embarked on our journey to develop a more efficient and sustainable system of sourcing REEs.

The first step of this journey was to determine the most viable stream for REE extraction. Through literature review, we identified three possible streams for REE extraction: tailings ponds, wastewater streams, and e-waste. To better understand the concentration of REEs present in each feedstock, as well as any unique extraction challenges that each feedstock may pose, we initiated conversations with academic experts from industries and regions all around the world.

We first spoke with Dr. Evan Granite, who has conducted extensive research into REEs in Alberta Oil Sand Process Streams as part of the US Department of Energy. We reached out to Dr. Granite to learn more about the feasibility of tapping into these streams as a source of REEs. Through our conversation, we learned that REEs in oil sands tailings may be present in monazite form, weakly bound to organics in petroleum, or ion absorbed to clay. Ion absorbed REEs are the easiest to extract, a process that Dr. Granite informed us is frequently conducted in China.

Most importantly, we also learned that the concentration of REE in coal ash is very low (on the order of 100s of ppm). Dr. Granite therefore stressed that for such a dilute feedstock, we would need co-recovery of another element in order to ensure economic viability. Instead, he recommended that we tap into e-waste, as its higher concentration of REEs would make it easier to develop a system that recovers enough product to recoup the costs of extraction. He also suggested fluorescent lights as a potential source, although he warned us that the high concentration of mercury renders this source less safe.

Dr. Granite was also kind enough to refer us to Dr. James Brydie, Director of Upstream & Environment at Natural Resources Canada. As Director of Upstream & Environment at Natural Resources Canada, Dr. James Brydie is knowledgeable in the area of recycling, remediation, and value added products from tailings. Dr. Brydie confirmed for us many of the things we learned when speaking with Dr. Granite, such as the fact that e-waste may prove to be a better source of REEs than tailings ponds. After hearing about our desire to develop a new method of sourcing REEs, Dr. Brydie and his team also stressed the importance of defining our project endpoint, stating that this exercise would prove critical to our project success.

Figure 1.A screen capture of our HP meeting with Dr. Brydie.

Having explored tailings ponds as a potential REE source, we then reached out to Dr. Ralf Kaegi, a research scientist and head of the Particle Laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, to learn more about the potential feasibility of extracting REEs from wastewater as part of the wastewater treatment process.

Although wastewater treatment plants have become important resource recovery plants in recent decades, Dr. Kaegi informed us that the market for recovering REEs from wastewater is limited, given that it is more expensive to extract REEs from wastewater as opposed to current sourcing methods. In order to create a competitive and economically viable system, our extraction process would therefore need to co-recover other valuable materials from wastewater. Given this, Dr. Kaegi also expressed support for e-waste as a feedstock, as its higher concentration of REEs would better enable an economically viable extraction system.

Figure 1.A screen capture of our HP meeting with Dr. Kaegi.

To understand the applicability of our local wastewater as feedstock for our system, we also reached out to our municipal government, the City of Calgary, to inquire about the potential of the wastewater being treated through their system. We spoke to Nisa Jayathilake, an Operations Engineer at the City of Calgary. We discovered that the city abides by provincial regulations regarding the chemical species that they analyze during wastewater monitoring and treatment. From the city’s perspective, REEs are not part of the said regulatory framework to be removed from wastewater and are thus not measured. Furthermore, the City of Calgary generally oversees residential wastewater, which might not have a high concentration of REEs.

What did we discover?

Our primary takeaway from each of these conversations with industry experts was that our system would require an efficient REE sourcing stream that contains a high concentration of recoverable REEs in order to be economically viable. Our discussions with Dr. Kaegi and the City of Calgary led us to rule out wastewater streams as a potential source of REEs. Similarly, our discussions with Dr. Granite and Dr. Brydie dissuaded us from looking further into tailings ponds. Instead, each of our HP contacts expressed strong support for e-waste, which offers a more economically viable feedstock for REE extraction. Bolstered by this HP support, our team began to develop a system that recovers REEs from e-waste. We also took to heart Dr. Brydie’s advice to define our project endpoint, and began to identify the key project values that would be used to characterize our solution.

DEFINE A GOOD SOLUTION

After identifying e-waste as a reliable source of REEs, we wanted to define core project values by speaking with relevant stakeholders and key players in the field to understand their needs. Outlining our project values allowed us to tailor our objectives to best meet the demands of the industry and define what a good solution would entail. We identified 4 core values: Sustainable, Economically Viable, Integratible, and Social Relevance

Figure 2.Neocycle’s four core values, which have influenced our project design at every step of the developmental process.

Sustainability

We learned that one of the biggest challenges facing the recycling of REEs from e-waste is the lack of selectivity with current metal separation technologies. Current processes require multiple complex steps to purify the REEs against the high concentration of competing metals in e-waste, thus making it economically unfeasible [2]. Since we identified these detrimental environmental effects as one of the primary issues associated with existing REE practice, we wanted to learn about how to create a more sustainable solution. To accomplish this, we reached out to the University of Calgary sustainability office, who taught us about the UN SDGs and how to implement them into our project narrative. In our meeting, we were able to identify eight sustainable development goals to focus on:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being
Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth
Goal 9: Industry, innovation, and infrastructure
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
Goal 13: Climate action
Goal 17: Partnership for the goals

Each of those goals targeted a specific aspect of our project’s implementation and impact. To learn more about our journey in understanding and implementing our chosen SDGs, visit our Project Sustainability page here.

Economic viability

We knew that being economically viable would play a huge role in successfully implementing our project on an industrial scale, so we reached out to electronic waste recycling facilities to understand what it takes to break into the market.

Quantum Lifecycle Partners LP is a local electronic waste recycling facility based in Edmonton, Alberta. Through collaboration with ARMA (Alberta Recycling Management Authority), we were able to have the opportunity to visit and tour Quantum Lifecycle’s recycling facility. We were able to meet with Clayton Miller, the Vice President of Business Development, and discuss the economic burdens faced by the company. We learned that much of the infrastructural cost burdens of Quantum comes from transportational and organizational fees associated with moving processed electronic waste to other locations. Additionally, we discovered that the industry is well aware of the fact that they often use solutions that may not be the most optimal, but they continue to apply these solutions because they work, are good enough, and restructuring the existing system would be difficult. Clayton Miller emphasized that the company is a business first, so the facility won’t think about implementing better processes unless they are better for the business. As such, we realized that if our process is just able to separate things with a higher net recovery, there is space in the market for us and a realistic chance at developing into a business, even if our process is more time intensive.

All in all, it was crucial to develop an appealing low-cost, high-profit margin to showcase our economic viability. Our entrepreneurship subgroup further developed the economic aspects of our project to showcase our potential as a business, visit our supporting entrepreneurship page here.

Integratable

In addition to being sustainable and economically viable, our stakeholders also stressed that without an integratable system, we wouldn't be able to gain a solid footing within the industry. Thus, we reached out to another electronic waste recycling facility, eCycle Solutions, a local to learn about how our solution could fit into existing processes. eCycle solutions told us about the structure of the existing recycling pipeline. We learned about where each company will process a specific component of e-waste and how they send their processed materials downstream to another company. As a result of this discussion, we realized that the optimal users of our product would not be the primary e-waste processors, but rather the downstream processors who are already equipped to do more complex recycling of metal materials. As such, recycling companies such as eCycle Solutions could send their processed e-waste to downstream facilities that would utilize our biological solution to recycle REEs. This eliminates the need for extensive downstream transfers of materials, which would save both cost and time, while allowing us to be an easily-integratable solution.

Thus, our project proposed implementation is focused on utilizing the feedback we received from stakeholders to ensure our project is integratable and meets the demands of the industry.

Social relevance

We realized that it was not enough to develop a way of recycling REEs - we also needed the general public to realize the importance of our issue so that we could propel our ideas forward. Without social support, our project wouldn’t be able to take flight.

To explore the social perspective around the REE scarcity problem and the importance of recycling e-waste, we reached out to ARMA, the Alberta Recycling Management Authority. In our meeting, they stressed the difficulty of raising awareness about the importance of the REE scarcity, and mobilizing the general public to take action by recycling e-waste. To further shape our narrative to support social relevance, we later explored public opinions surrounding e-waste through the implementation of a survey. By compiling the opinions collected from stakeholders and implementing the concerns brought up by ARMA, we realized our project needed to effectively reach a general audience to make a significant impact.

Having defined these project values, we then began to ideate novel solutions that would address the needs of our stakeholders and succeed in meeting the growing REE demand.

IDEATE

Propose solutions and verify their need
Having identified e-waste as a valuable and untapped source of REEs, we began to explore synthetic biology solutions such as lanthanide-binding tags (LBTs) for the recovery of these elements from e-waste. However, none of them possessed the selectivity required to build an efficient recovery system. We eventually came across lanmodulin, a recently discovered lanthanide binding protein. Preliminary characterization of this protein has showcased its ability to bind lanthanides with extremely high affinity, making it more than 100 million-fold selective for REEs over other competing metals [4]. This selectivity makes lanmodulin an ideal building block for the construction of an efficient recovery system. In addition, the protein has also proven to be extremely robust, with great thermostability and reusability, enabling its integration into non-ideal industry conditions [5]. The final point in lanmodulin’s favour is that using a natural protein would eliminate the need for toxic chemicals, allowing a lanmodulin-based recovery system to be a sustainable solution.

To validate this idea of using lanmodulin in an REE recovery system, we presented the idea of using lanmodulin in an REE recovery system to Genome Alberta, experts in the field of biotechnology. They were very intrigued by the protein’s capabilities but highlighted that developing a high throughput system is key to building an economically viable project. To do so, we took inspiration from iGEM Waterloo 2020 and set out to immobilize lanmodulin on solid support inside an adsorber column. In this system the interior of the column would be functionalized with lanmodulin proteins where they would be able to be continuously reused and repurposed for new rounds of REE recovery.

We began to brainstorm experimental plans to test out our ideas and characterize the metal binding capacity of our system in the lab but soon discovered that almost all of our experiments would require us to reliably measure REE concentration in solution. Traditional methods of REE quantification are Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). However, these systems are expensive, and we found it difficult to gain reliable access to them. We realized that this is not only a bottleneck to our research but could be a big barrier to many other REE-related projects. As such, we set out to utilize lanmodulin’s incredible selectivity in designing an REE-specific biosensor to detect their levels in solution. To help validate our biosensor idea, we presented it to Dr. Mayall, the CTO at FREDsense Technologies, a biotech start-up that specialized in developing biosensors. He showed great support and enthusiasm for our ideas and mentioned that although a biosensor would not be able to reach the standards of an ICP-MS method in terms of accuracy, its affordability and accessibility could more than make up for it. In particular, in places like e-waste recycling facilities, where large volumes of samples come in every day, a fast and affordable method of determining REE content could be valuable. Thus, we set out to develop a lanmodulin-based measurement system with an emphasis on making it fast, accessible, and affordable.

While we were in contact with Genome Alberta, they asked us what kind of processing would need to be done to e-waste in order to gain access to the REEs. In looking for an answer to their question, we learned that we’d need to have a way to dissolve the metals in the e-waste to solubilize REEs from their matrix and have them accessible to LanM in solution. For this, the conventional method was to use strong acids such as HCl. However, these synthetically-made acids have serious environmentally detrimental and physically hazardous effects in both their production and use. Acid treatment for that reason makes up 38% of the greenhouse gas emission of current conventional REE production [6]. We knew that with the environmental focus of our project, we’d need a better solution. Our review of the literature led us to bioleaching- using acid-producing cells to leach metals into solution, and so our third subgroup was born. Having identified the three main barriers to the current e-waste recycling pipeline and validated our initial solutions for them, we moved forward with further developing our ideas and building a sustainable, economical, and integratable system for REE extraction, recovery, and measurement.

Figure 3.The three main stages of the Neocycle system.

DESIGN SOLUTIONS

Our Recovery System>
We began the iterative design of our three subprojects by seeking out technical and academic experts from various fields. To help further develop our REE recovery system, we reached out to Dr. Joseph Cotruvo, the founder of the lanmodulin protein, and his close associate Dr. Dan Park. Although lanmodulin has shown great promise, its relative novelty means that its application for REE recovery has not yet been explored. We thought speaking with the two main researchers working with the protein would give us insight into its capabilities and how it could be applied to our system. Dr. Cotruvo helped us validate many experimental designs and ideas for the REE recovery system.

Dr. Cotruvo first confirmed that lanmodulin is highly reusable and stable; therefore, it can be easily repurposed once immobilized. Furthermore, due to its robustness, he did not foresee any problems with lanmodulin immobilization, as the protein has been shown to be stable over a wide range of conditions. Finally, he gave us insight into the recent work that his lab has been doing to immobilize lanmodulin, stressing the importance of choosing an ideal solid support. He went on to outline three criteria for suitable solid support: low cost of production, inertness, and stability. Having validated lanmodulin’s application for use in our immobilized system, we moved on to develop a suitable immobilization technique based on the guidance provided by Dr. Cotruvo.

We initially considered a variety of solid supports, such as silica, agarose, and gold nanoparticles. However, upon meeting with Dr. Jinguang Hu, an expert in microcellulose production and engineering, cellulose quickly became our preferred choice of solid support. Through our discussion with Dr. Hu, we learned about cellulose’s great features as solid support. Not only is cellulose relatively inert and cheap to produce, but it is also durable under a wide range of conditions, meeting the criteria outlined by Dr. Cotruvo. Furthermore, it is also biodegradable, allowing it to be easily engineered into all shapes and sizes using the tools developed by Dr. Hu’s lab. As such, we decided to partner with Dr. Hu and his lab to immobilize lanmodulin and build our REE recovery system.

Our Bioleaching System

Having spoken with Genome Alberta, we also had the idea to use bioleaching as our method of choice for solubilizing REEs for recovery. But to determine exactly how we could do that, we first needed to connect with an expert. Dr. David Reed is an expert in bioleaching and its applications in rare earth extraction. When we asked him whether it would be best to use an chemotrophic acidophile, or an organic-acid producing heterotroph such as G. oxydans, he suggested that we run parallel experiments with both organisms and perform a comparative analysis. He said that such a study had not yet been done, and would fill a significant gap in the literature. For that reason, we decided to do exactly that.

Our Measurement System

Our first iteration of our measurement system proposed the use of Luciferase, a class of enzymes whose bioluminescence can be employed for quantification purposes. To validate this proposal, we decided to meet again with Dr. Robert Mayall, the CTO and Co-Founder of FREDsense technologies. Dr. Mayall suggested that we also develop other measurement systems so that we could compare the range of LanM binding and detection, thereby allowing us to optimize our measurement conditions.. One system that he recommended was an electrochemical system. As electrochemical signals can be built up and measured at different times, such a system would allow for better resolution. Hence, our conversation with Dr. Mayall established the basis of our suite of measurement systems.

In order to develop Elektra, our electrochemical system, we then met with Dr. Todd Sutherland, an associate professor in the chemistry department of the University of Calgary. We proposed developing our own potentiostat to measure the electrochemical signal from the ruthenium signal molecule, but our discussion with Dr. Sutherland informed us that this would not be the best use of our time, given the abundance of economical potentiostats that are available. He also directed us to look for potential selective attachment sites on the ruthenium molecule, which led to us utilizing a histidine attachment in order to attach our ruthenium to lanmodulin. We also spoke with Dr. Amanda Musgrove, who stressed the importance of incorporating background signal checks when characterizing our measurement system in order to reduce background noise interference.

Our Adsorber Column

When developing our adsorber column, we talked to Dr. Hu to learn more about actual operation of the packed adsorber column. We were informed that since the bioleachate will contain ions other than REEs, there is a chance that REEs and other non-REE ions will physically adsorb onto the cellulose bead support. This has the potential to cause problems if we want to have a final solution with a high purity of REEs. This conversation prompted us to conduct cellulose characterization experiments through batch adsorption to confirm if this would be an issue and if we can use a washing solution to desorb the metals off of the cellulose support.

Our Bioreactor

In developing our bioreactor design for transformed E. coli cultivation, we talked with Dr. Michael Kallos, a professor at the University of Calgary who studies the use of bioreactors for stem cell expansion and differentiation. We inquired about his insights regarding what potential considerations we should have in the design for the bioreactor. We wanted to make a reusable bioreactor as opposed to a single-use unit. He mentioned that cleaning and sterilizing the probes that come into contact with the bioreactor content will be difficult. Given this, we endeavored to choose materials that are resilient and easily autoclavable in the most academic laboratories.

Our Modelling

In our modeling of the metal recovery unit, we connected with Dr. Anne Benneker, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary. She told us that before a modeling workflow should be implemented, we needed to define our process goal for the unit, which is the standard against which we compare our data from simulations. Furthermore, she suggested performing a sensitivity analysis by sweeping through parameter values and seeing how the performance of the packed adsorber column will change after that. These recommendations were directly translated into the modeling workflow that we have for the metal recovery, and we incorporated these suggestions in optimizing the parameters to yield the best unit performance.

EVALUATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

After undergoing multiple iterations to design our solution, we then sought to liaise with a multitude of stakeholders to evaluate our solution and develop a plan for implementation.

Closing the loop with academics

For our Faculty Talk, we invited academic experts in various disciplines to consult on the technical feasibility of our solution. Additionally, we extended the invitation to iGEM Calgary alumni, research connections, and other potential contacts whose input would prove invaluable. This served as a platform for us to obtain holistic feedback on Neocycle, which was essential for further development and iteration. The majority of our feedback was positive, as everyone expressed support for the design of our extraction system. In particular, we learned that the low-pH conditions from our bioleaching process may affect our separation step, since proteins, in general, do not fare well in severely acidic conditions. Although our use of lanmodulin, which is pH-stable, ensures that this will not be a problem, it encouraged us to think about the stability of our cellulose-binding domain (CBM), which may not exhibit the same pH stability as lanmodulin. We therefore used this feedback to better select CBMs that are able to withstand certain pH conditions.

In addition to our Faculty Talk, we also spoke with our contacts at Genome Alberta to gain more specialized technical insight on the design of our solution. They mentioned that for chemical processes in general, using a raw and complex feedstock such as e-waste might necessitate a pretreatment step before it could go through our system. This consideration was taken into account, and upon visiting electronic waste facilities, we found out that hard drives are already shredded in dismantling facilities and in downstream waste sorters. Since our solution targets REE extraction and recovery and is geared towards processors downstream, we discovered that we do not have to do the pretreatment ourselves.

Closing the loop with a regulatory body

To ascertain the feasibility of our solution in accordance with the regulations that are currently in place, we connected with the Alberta Recycling Management Authority. We wanted to inquire about the integrability of our system into the existing metal recycling system, as we knew that regulatory compliance is often a major bottleneck in the actual implementation of a solution. We spoke with Ed Gugenheimer, the Chief Executive Officer of ARMA about the potential of our solution to be incorporated into the provincial electronic waste recycling scheme. He expressed strong support for our solution, stating that there is an opportunity for such integration within Alberta’s recycling framework. He also added that private companies are also often enthusiastic about new technologies that enable them to improve upon their existing processes. We were also pleased to learn that Neocycle feeds directly into the Alberta government’s transition towards a circular economy.

Additionally, he suggested that one way our solution could suit the established pipeline is by separating the metals left over after smelting operations. This suggestion allowed us to pinpoint REE suppliers as a major stakeholder, as they perform chemical refining processes much like what Mr. Gugenheimer was gesturing towards.

The insights we derived from our talk with a regulatory body allowed us to be confident that there is interest in the private sphere about our technology and that this fits with the plans to move towards a circular economy.

Closing the loop with a supplier

A critical aspect in implementing our solution is determining the stakeholder directly downstream i.e. the entity who will receive the product that we eventually produce. In this case, we identified REE suppliers as an important entity, as they bridge the gap between Neocycle and the actual industries that utilize REEs.

For this reason, we connected with Noah Chemicals, a producer of high-purity chemical products that are utilized for research and industrial production. Along with a multitude of other chemicals, they directly supply REEs to research and industry. We discussed with Kelly Sellers, Chief Chemist, and Steven McCarthy, Associate Director of Noah Chemicals, the form in which they receive REEs, as well as what industries they supply. We learned that they conventionally receive REEs from mines in an oxide concentrate form that contains a mixture of heavy and light REEs. This informed us that our recovered product, which is a high purity solution of REEs, needs to undergo further chemical processing, such as precipitation into hydroxides and calcination to convert the hydroxides into oxides. We were also told that the biggest industries to which they supply REEs are nuclear research and development agencies, where REEs are used as nonradioactive surrogates, as well as ceramics manufacturers who feed into magnetics industries to produce magnets for electronic devices.

Closing the loop with the general public

In order to power an effective transition towards a circular economy, we realized that we need to communicate with the general public about not only the importance of REEs, but also the importance of recycling e-waste. Having said this, tackling the problem of excessive e-waste should be addressed at the root cause through waste reduction efforts.

We therefore looked into the right of small businesses to repair electronic devices, a topic of conversation that is becoming increasingly frequent within Canada. Upon our deep dive into this issue, we learned about Bill C-272, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act, which pertains to the diagnosis, maintenance or repair of electronics. To better understand the movement behind this bill, we reached out to the Member of Parliament, Brian May, who was responsible for its initiation. He explained to us in greater depth what the right to repair is and how the bill he sponsored would allow people to legally repair and maintain their devices, thus lengthening their lifespan. Furthermore, we learned that the best way to engage individuals and initiate conversations about the right to repair is through community initiatives, as well as by liaising with our provincial government.

As we began to explore ways to reach out to the public, we also connected with interest groups that represent a common interest in the right to repair. For instance, we reached out to the Share Reuse Repair Initiative (SRRI), an interest group that functions at the intersection of industry, government, and community in order to promote a culture of sharing, reusing, and repairing. They told us more about the current state of affairs surrounding e-waste reusing and recycling and what we can do as individuals. While they acknowledged that holding recycling drives are a commendable effort, they emphasized that a cultural shift is necessary for more widespread change. We were informed that there is a need to change the language revolving around recycling to bring about lasting impact since changes in public attitude are often bottlenecked by the jargon associated with advocacies. Given our conversation with SSRI, we then ensured that any interaction with the public would have accessible language. For instance, we incorporated this suggestion when we gauged public awareness about e-waste recycling through a consumer survey.

In an attempt to assess public e-waste recycling habits, we began engaging directly with the public through an e-waste recycling survey. The objective of this survey was to provide a baseline that informs our future initiatives to engage the public.

Since we are interacting with humans, we talked to Dr. Jenny Godley, a Chair of the Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board at the University of Calgary to ensure that our survey complies with the highest ethical standards. We were told about the general guidelines in the ethics application and the things we need to consider when implementing our survey, such as anonymity, incentivization, and data security for the results. After getting ethics approval, we opened our survey to the public, and were able to receive over 400 respondents. From these results, we plan on beginning to promote general awareness of e-waste recycling through targeted awareness campaigns, such as posters and other informational media. Great care will be taken when developing these media, as we wanted to ensure that we used accessible language that helped us gain a better reach and effect more lasting change. We started this targeted campaign initiative through our collaboration with the Office of Sustainability at the University of Calgary, and we plan on continuing to reiterate this through our future endeavors.

EVALUATION OF OUR PROJECT’S GUIDING VALUES

Our stakeholders affirmed that recycled REEs are a needed, feasible, and market-acceptable alternative to mined REEs as long as they are comparable in cost. Similar to our stakeholders, we have sought to optimize our project to be acceptable with both environmental and financial vision. With our economic analysis, our entrepreneurship team has confirmed that Neocycle has the potential to eventually become an economically-viable technology for the production of REEs. Keeping in mind our stakeholders' focus on environmental values, we strive to be able to provide a desirable and efficient alternative to suit their desires.

To grow Neocycle into a technology that will meet the needs of industry, we have identified a few future directions to propel our project forward. Firstly, more lab work will need to be done to characterize lanmodulin and optimize its expression in order to make production as cost-effective as possible. Secondly, we want to implement a long term e-waste recycling program within university by applying for grants and funding. Additionally, we hope to set up posters in recycling facilities around the city. Initiatives like these will put us in a better position to successfully bring Neocycle into Industry. Thirdly, we hope to have a press release and participate in industrial events to gather support from the public and build towards implementing our system into the real world.

References

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Pozo-Gonzalo P. 2021. Demand for rare-earth metals is skyrocketing, so we’re creating a safer , cleaner way to recover them from old phones and laptops. The Conversation.
Cotruvo, J, Featherson ER, Mattocks JA, Ho JV, Laremore, TN. Lanmodulin: A Highly Selective Lanthanide-Binding Protein from a Lanthanide-Utilizing Bacterium. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2018 [accessed 2021 Sep 17];140:15056-15061. doi:10.1021/JACS.8B09842
Deblonde, GJ, Mattocks, JA, Park, DM, Reed DW, Cotruvo JA, Jiao Y. Selective and Efficient Biomacromolecular Extraction of Rare-Earth Elements using Lanmodulin. Inorganic chemistry. 2020 [accessed 2021 Sep 17];59:11855–11867. doi:10.1021/ACS.INORGCHEM.0C01303
Haque N, Hughes AE, Lim S, Vernon C. Rare Earth Elements: Overview of Mining, Mineralogy, Uses, Sustainability and Environmental Impact. Resources., 3, 2018;614-635.

Team:Calgary/Human Practices