Today, e-waste constitutes one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world: in 2022, global production reached 62 million tonnes and is expected to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030, according to the UN.
Brazil is already the world’s fifth largest producer of e-waste, ahead of Latin America, and continues to face the challenge of inadequate disposal.
Recycling of electronic devices and household appliances
Opened in December 2024, in São José dos Campos (SP), the Ambipar urban mining plant is listed as the largest in Latin America in terms of recycling capacity for electronics and household appliances. During this first year of operation, the equipment reached the mark of 20 thousand tons of electronic waste processed and transformed into secondary raw materials which were returned to the industry.
Even if the planned potential, which amounts to 80 thousand tonnes per year, has not yet been reached, the result is perceived favorably by operators.
“Since its inauguration, the unit has entered a continuous growth curve, consolidating operational processes, integrating new supply flows and expanding the mix of equipment received, from small electronics to large household appliances,” underlines Marcelo Oliveira, global head of electronic waste at Ambipar.
The BRL 100 million investment in the urban mining plant helps separate all components of e-waste: plastic, iron, aluminum, copper, brass, stainless steel, electronic boards, paper and cardboard.
The factory receives everything from small and medium-sized materials to large equipment, including stoves, washing machines, microwaves, fans, radios, cell phones and irons.
The Ambipar urban mining plant is classified as the largest in Latin America
Reverse logistics
Reverse logistics of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of ten such chains operating in Brazil. WEEE is currently carried out by the Brazilian Association for the Recycling of Electronic and Household Appliances (ABREE) and the Responsible for Reverse Logistics of Electronic and Electronic Equipment (Green Eletron).
According to the Panorama of Solid Waste in Brazil 2025, launched this month by the Brazilian Association of Waste and Environment (Abrema), Green Eletron reused or recovered all electronic products collected in 2024, totaling approximately 7.3 thousand tons of materials.
According to Marcelo Oliveira, one of the big differences in urban mining, using electronics, is the recovery of noble metals with much higher efficiency than conventional mining: while a ton of ore can contain around 5g of gold, the same amount of recycled electronic boards can produce up to 800g of metal.
The plant’s extraction results, according to Ambipar, are 55% ferrous metals, 6% non-ferrous metals, 30% plastics and 9% other materials.
“The urban mining plant raises the level of electronics recycling in Brazil by combining cutting-edge technology, full material traceability and efficiency in metal recovery. We transform waste into high-value inputs for industry, reducing dependence on mining and strengthening the circular economy at scale,” explains the executive.
About The Author
