Montenegrin environmental-services company Hemosan is preparing a new processing line in Bar that will recover gold, silver, platinum and other valuable metals from discarded electronic equipment, marking a significant expansion of the country’s still-limited recycling infrastructure.
The planned facility will process selected fractions of electrical and electronic waste, primarily printed circuit boards and components with elevated concentrations of precious metals. Instead of exporting these materials untreated or allowing them to enter informal waste streams, Hemosan intends to separate them mechanically and produce concentrated secondary raw materials suitable for further specialist refining.
The project therefore represents more than an equipment upgrade at a local waste-management company. It introduces an early form of urban mining into Montenegro’s industrial economy, converting obsolete computers, telecommunications equipment, household electronics and control systems into commercially usable metal-bearing material.
The new line will include the preparation, dismantling and crushing of smaller electronic devices and selected components. Ferrous, non-ferrous and non-metallic fractions will then be separated, while printed circuit boards and other metal-rich material will be directed towards the recovery of precious metals. The final output should be understood as a recyclable concentrate rather than immediately marketable bullion: full production of high-purity gold, silver or platinum generally requires additional hydrometallurgical or pyrometallurgical refining by specialised operators.
Hemosan’s investment nevertheless moves a greater share of the value chain into Montenegro. Until now, much of the country’s hazardous and technically complex waste has had to be collected, temporarily stored and exported for treatment. Domestic pre-processing reduces transport volumes, lowers the cost of cross-border waste shipments and allows a larger portion of the material’s economic value to remain with the local operator.
The company already has an established position in Montenegro’s environmental-services sector. Founded in Bar in 1993, Hemosan employs approximately 36 people and works across hazardous-waste collection, industrial cleaning, treatment of oily water, marine-pollution response and management of electrical and electronic waste. It operates an environmental centre within the Port of Bar, giving it access to road, rail and maritime logistics that could support the future consolidation of electronic waste from across Montenegro and potentially neighbouring markets.
The company has spent several years developing municipal collection arrangements. Its network includes cooperation with authorities and utility companies in Tivat, Nikšić, Danilovgrad, Žabljak, Mojkovac and Kolašin, while electronic waste is increasingly being delivered to its Bar facilities from other parts of the country. Local industry estimates indicate that Montenegro collects around 500–600 tonnes of electronic waste annually, although the absence of a comprehensive national tracking system means that the total volume generated is likely to be higher.
Hemosan has already invested in equipment for dismantling and processing electrical appliances, including a line capable of treating as many as 50 discarded refrigeration units per hour. The proposed precious-metals line extends that model from basic separation and safe disposal towards higher-value material recovery.
Printed circuit boards are particularly attractive because they contain copper alongside smaller quantities of gold, silver, palladium and platinum-group metals. Their value varies sharply depending on the original equipment. Telecommunications systems, computer servers and older high-grade electronics typically contain richer metal concentrations than modern low-cost household appliances.
That variation will make feedstock management central to the commercial performance of the Bar project. The line’s economics will depend not simply on the gross tonnage of electronic waste received, but on the proportion of higher-grade circuit boards, the effectiveness of preliminary sorting, metal recovery rates, processing costs and the terms offered by downstream refiners. A tonne of mixed household electronics cannot be valued in the same way as a tonne of carefully separated telecommunications boards.
Traceability will be equally important. Electronic waste contains recoverable metals, but it may also include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, brominated flame retardants and refrigerants. Mechanical treatment must therefore be supported by controlled dismantling, ventilation and dust collection, occupational-safety procedures, fire protection and documented handling of hazardous residual fractions.
The environmental case for the project is closely tied to these controls. Informal treatment of cables and electronics, including open burning to recover copper, releases toxic smoke and leaves contaminated residues in soil. Hemosan has previously warned that these practices remain visible in parts of Montenegro. A licensed industrial route creates an alternative collection channel and places the material under monitored operating conditions.
Project documentation submitted in connection with the planned line identifies the existing Hemosan site in Bar as the processing location. The facility is positioned within an established industrial and logistics area, with the Port of Bar aquatorium approximately 410 metres away. Its coastal location makes containment and emergency-response systems particularly important, but it also offers a logistical advantage for sending separated concentrates and hazardous residual material to licensed European recovery plants.
The global market supports the strategic logic of the investment. The world generated approximately 62 million tonnes of electronic waste in 2022, while only about 22% was formally collected and recycled. The volume is projected to rise to roughly 82 million tonnes by 2030, driven by shorter product cycles, electrification, digital infrastructure, household-appliance consumption and the rapid replacement of telecommunications equipment.
This growth is turning electronic waste into an increasingly important source of secondary metals. Europe remains heavily dependent on imported primary and refined raw materials, including many metals required for electronics, renewable energy, electric vehicles and industrial automation. Recovery from waste cannot replace mining, but it can reduce material losses, diversify supply and lower the environmental footprint associated with primary extraction.
For Montenegro, the immediate value lies in building the missing middle of its waste-management system. The country has historically recorded very low recycling rates, while substantial volumes of municipal and industrial waste still move towards disposal rather than material recovery. Electronic waste is especially poorly suited to that model because it combines hazardous substances with some of the highest-value recyclable fractions in the waste stream.
Hemosan’s project could also strengthen implementation of extended producer responsibility, under which manufacturers and importers finance the collection and proper treatment of products placed on the market. A functioning domestic processor gives electronics retailers, telecommunications operators, banks, public institutions and industrial companies a clearer route for disposing of obsolete equipment while retaining auditable documentation.
Corporate clients will increasingly demand more than a collection certificate. Data destruction, equipment identification, weight records, waste codes, transport documentation, treatment confirmation and downstream material traceability are becoming part of environmental, social and governance reporting. This creates an additional service market around the physical recycling line, particularly for banks, telecom operators, data centres and public-sector organisations replacing large volumes of IT equipment.
The investment may eventually support a wider regional collection model. Montenegro’s domestic market is small, and long-term utilisation of specialised equipment could require material from neighbouring Western Balkan economies. Bar’s port and railway connections offer a potential route for consolidating selected e-waste fractions, provided that cross-border shipments comply with hazardous-waste rules and the receiving facility has the required permits.
No public figure has yet been disclosed for the project’s CAPEX, annual processing capacity or expected commissioning date. Those parameters will determine whether the line functions primarily as a national environmental service or develops into a commercially significant regional processing operation. Feedstock agreements, metal-price exposure and access to accredited downstream refiners will shape margins more decisively than headline quantities of recovered gold.
The strategic direction is already clear. Hemosan is moving from the collection and export of difficult waste towards domestic processing, material concentration and secondary-resource recovery. For Bar, the project adds a small but technically relevant industrial activity alongside the city’s established port and logistics base. For Montenegro, it creates a practical test of whether circular-economy policy can be converted into local processing capacity, auditable material flows and commercially valuable output.
