Old catalytic converters and electronic scrap could be recovered and put to further use with the help of bacteria.

New research carried out at the University of Birmingham has revealed that certain bacteria can act on the waste materials to collect palladium crystals.

Adding the bacteria Desulfovibrio desulfuricans and Escherichia coli to wastewater from previously used catalytic converters and circuit boards resulted in the collection of palladium in the form of nanocrystals.

Platinum, aluminium and silver were also deposited by the bacteria, which carried on working for over three months, while the palladium crystals were found to be 50 nanometers wide.

Amanda Mabbett, a microbial physiology researcher at the University of Queensland, welcomed the discovery and said that it would have an important impact on the mining and scrap metals industries.

"One man's waste is another man's treasure," Ms Mabbett commented.

"Instead of just implementing methods to clear up their waste end products, these industries could undertake a two-fold process of clean up and manufacture."

She added that the industries could one day make a profit from the waste and that it would help to meet increasing demand for metals such as palladium.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd