Prison workshops are turning your dumped TV into Royal Mint gold
Key Points
- The Royal Mint's Reformation Metals business has partnered with Recycling Lives Services to recover gold from end-of-life UK televisions.
- Prisoners in supervised workshops dismantle circuit boards by hand at Recycling Lives' Preston facility before they are sent to the Mint's Llantrisant plant.
- The Royal Mint extracts gold, silver and platinum group elements from the boards at its south Wales facility.
- The arrangement keeps recovered precious metals inside UK supply chains and aligns with the UK Critical Minerals Strategy.
- The workshops form part of a Recycling Lives rehabilitation model offering employment and skills to prisoners preparing for release.
Prisoners in supervised UK workshops are dismantling old televisions to feed the Royal Mint’s gold recovery operation.
Reformation Metals, the Royal Mint’s precious metals recovery business, announced the arrangement with Recycling Lives Services on Wednesday (27 May).
Civic amenity sites across the country supply end-of-life TVs to Recycling Lives’ Preston facility, where staff and prisoners in supervised workshops dismantle the circuit boards by hand.
The boards then move to the Royal Mint’s plant in Llantrisant, south Wales, for gold and precious metal extraction.
Recycling Lives grades, itemises and verifies each batch before dispatch, giving the Mint a traceable domestic feedstock.
For the prisoners involved, the workshops offer structured employment and transferable skills ahead of release, fitting into a wider Recycling Lives rehabilitation model that pairs commercial recycling with employment routes for people facing barriers to work.
“Recycling Lives plays a vital role in supporting our precious metals recovery work,” said Sean Millard, Chief Growth Officer at The Royal Mint.
“We’re proud to work with such a specialised recycling business. Their feedstock has enabled us to continue sourcing high-quality precious metals from e-waste across the UK, while their social impact model adds further value to a partnership advancing a more circular economy.”
Reformation Metals sits within the 1,100-year-old Royal Mint’s longer-term diversification into sustainable precious metals, recovering gold, silver and platinum group elements from electronic waste.
The operation aligns with the UK Critical Minerals Strategy, aiming to cut reliance on traditional mining and keep recovered materials inside domestic supply chains rather than exporting UK e-waste for processing abroad.
“By working with The Royal Mint’s Reformation Metals team, Recycling Lives Services is recovering valuable materials from UK e-waste while supporting a rehabilitation model that creates practical routes towards employment for prisoners preparing for release,” said Adrian Murphy, Chief Executive Officer at Recycling Lives Services.
“The Royal Mint’s commitment to ethical precious metals recovery helps make that model possible, connecting circular economy innovation with meaningful second chances.”
