The Royal Mint plans to introduce a world-first technology to the UK to recycle gold from electronic waste.

Fewer than one fifth of electronic waste ends up being recycled, estimates show. The Mint's chief executive Anne Jessopp said the technology would help to "make a genuine impact on one of the world's greatest environmental challenges".

The Royal Mint has signed an agreement with Canadian start-up Excir to recover 99 percent  and more of gold from devices' circuit boards. It said the chemistry selectively targets and extracts precious metals from circuit boards in seconds.