The Royal Mint Turns Old TVs Into New Opportunities

A new partnership between The Royal Mint and Recycling Lives Services is proving that one business’s electronic waste can become another industry’s hidden treasure, while also helping people rebuild their futures.

Through The Royal Mint’s innovative precious metals recovery division, Reformation Metals, circuit boards taken from discarded televisions are now being transformed into valuable recovered materials including gold and other precious metals. 

But this isn’t just another recycling story. It is also a story about skills, rehabilitation and building a more sustainable UK economy.

The partnership sees end-of-life TVs collected from civic amenity sites across the country dismantled at Recycling Lives’ Preston facility and within supervised prison-industry workshops. 

Once stripped down, the circuit boards are carefully graded, checked and sent to The Royal Mint’s cutting-edge recovery facility in Llantrisant, South Wales, where valuable metals are extracted and reintroduced into the supply chain.

At a time when global demand for critical minerals continues to rise, the collaboration highlights the growing importance of keeping valuable resources inside the UK rather than relying heavily on imported raw materials or traditional mining operations.

Sean Millard, Chief Growth Officer at The Royal Mint, described Recycling Lives as a “vital” part of the company’s precious metals recovery work, praising both the quality of the recovered materials and the wider social impact created through the programme.

And that social impact is a major part of the story.

For prisoners involved in the supervised workshops, the work provides more than simply a daily task. It offers practical experience, transferable workplace skills and a route towards future employment opportunities after release.

Adrian Murphy, Chief Executive Officer at Recycling Lives Services, said the partnership combines circular economy innovation with “meaningful second chances”, creating practical pathways into employment while supporting the recovery of valuable materials from UK electronic waste.

The initiative also reflects The Royal Mint’s wider diversification strategy. The historic organisation, which has existed for over 1,100 years,  has increasingly expanded into sustainable precious metals innovation through its Reformation Metals division.

Instead of relying solely on traditional mining, the business is focusing on recovering gold, silver and platinum group metals from discarded electronics, helping support the UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy while tackling the growing challenge of e-waste.

It is a smart reminder that the future of British industry may not always lie underground, sometimes it is sitting inside yesterday’s unwanted television.