Recycling services

Umicore EOM is the one-stop solution for all your germanium recycling needs. We recycle germanium from a wide variety of sources, including fibre optics, solar cells, LEDs and infrared optics.

Advanced processes have been developed to recover germanium from a broad range of production scraps and end-of-life products. We can either purchase your germanium-containing materials or toll them into germanium end-products. A quick turnaround can be guaranteed.    

Pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes are available to recycle a wide variety of germanium-containing solids, cakes, slurries and solutions. We recover germanium from complex streams containing silicon, fluorine and many different metals, and have the capacity to treat several thousand tonnes of recycling streams annually. Technically, germanium can be recovered from recycling streams with concentrations as low as 0.5% for solids and 0.5 g/l for solutions. The economic feasibility will depend on the germanium market notations.