Jobs in Singapore: Meet two Singaporean chemists turning electronic waste into treasure

ECO-Mastermelt is a Singapore-based precious metals refinery that specialises in recovering and refining valuable metals from industries like pharmaceuticals, and oil and gas. Founded in 2015 through a partnership between UK-based Mastermelt and Singapore’s ECO Special Waste Management, the company extracts metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium from discarded electronics and manufacturing by-products — helping reduce waste while returning these high-purity raw materials to the global supply chain for manufacturers across Asia.
 

Nathanael Teo is a Chemist at ECO-Mastermelt. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from Loughborough University, as well as a Diploma in Chemical Engineering from Singapore Polytechnic.
 

1. What inspired you to pursue chemistry and a career at ECO-Mastermelt, and how did you overcome the challenges you faced in your work?

Ironically, I chose to study chemistry because I didn’t do so well at it in school, but this lack of understanding fuelled my interest in the subject. The field challenged me to learn more about how our world works, and after graduating from university, I chose to join ECO-Mastermelt due to its focus on sustainability. ECO-Mastermelt primarily focuses on precious metal recovery and refining services. In other words, we salvage gold, silver, and other precious metals from waste such as hard drives or catalytic converters and recycle them, and we work closely with many industries like pharmaceuticals and oil and gas companies to find value in their waste. Knowing that my work can help boost sustainability on a global level gives me a sense of purpose.

At ECO-Mastermelt, I’m a Chemist in charge of performing analyses on samples. We take a portion of the materials we receive and analyse them to find out how much precious metals are present, so we know the value that can be extracted from the waste and how to recover the metals. That said, I was initially quite afraid of starting this job as a fresh graduate — I felt like I lacked a lot of knowledge in the field as metallurgy wasn’t something that I had much experience with. Thankfully, my colleagues were exceedingly patient and helpful, teaching me everything I needed to know to fill the shoes that I was given.
 

2. What have you learned in your time with the company?

When I tell people I’m a Chemist, they envision me sitting in a laboratory pouring liquids here and there all day. While that is absolutely part of what I do, the metal refining aspect adds a whole other layer of work — I often have to suit up in personal protective equipment (PPE) and pour molten metals from thousand-degree furnaces. It’s much heavier work than you’d expect from a conventional Chemist job. Furthermore, the challenge of having to juggle multiple analyses at once and bouncing between the physical work of lifting heavy mills and moulds and pivoting to precise aliquoting of acid — the careful measurement and dispensing of an exact amount of acid — is tough, but I enjoy seeing just what I’m capable of and learning how I can improve myself through each task. Most of the time, the digestion and preparation of these metal samples can take three to four days of work, but having my hard work translate into a clean set of results gives me a sense of accomplishment.

I was also part of ECO-Mastermelt’s 10th year anniversary event, where we opened up our plant and invited guests to tour the space. It was quite hectic, especially with the added stress of being a newbie, but getting to see and understand our facilities through a different lens helped me learn more about what we do here.

Another instance would be when an expert chemist from the UK came to visit. That was my first week on the job, so I skipped orientation and was dropped straight into hands-on lessons with the visiting expert. It was quite a shock to have to immediately get down to work even before knowing my colleagues’ names, but it was a great learning opportunity and I’m so lucky to have been a part of it.
 

3. What makes the field you’re in such an exciting one to be in, and why should Singaporeans consider this path for their career?

The way I see it, the recycling industry is growing and will only get bigger as natural resources continue to dwindle while demand inversely increases, so I personally believe it’s a good time to join the industry and grow alongside it. Furthermore, there are so many use cases for precious metals apart from jewellery that many people might not even know about. For example, did you know that gold and silver have medicinal uses? Gold is used in drugs that target enzymes, while silver has strong anti-bacterial properties. Platinum is also used in cisplatin, a drug used to treat cancer. In other words, the field is a really dynamic and multi-faceted one to be in, and you’ll definitely learn a lot more than you expect.
 

4. What advice would you give to young Singaporeans who are job-hunting or embarking on their first career?

Don’t be afraid of stepping outside of your comfort zone. There are many jobs out there that you may be worried about applying for because you might not have the expertise for them, but I believe you should try to expand your horizons and apply for jobs that interest you, even if you might not see yourself as a good fit. Sure, you might be rejected, but if you’re accepted, you’ll pick up new skills you otherwise may not have known about. Through these experiences, you’ll also be able to expand your knowledge of the industry you’re keen on exploring.

Nicholas Low is an Assistant Chemist at ECO-Mastermelt. He has a Diploma in Chemical & Pharmaceutical Technology from Nanyang Polytechnic.
 

1. What inspired you to pursue chemistry and a career at ECO-Mastermelt, and how did you overcome the challenges you faced in your work?

The stories from my polytechnic lecturers about their lab work in previous roles inspired me to pursue chemistry-related work in a lab. As for why I chose to join ECO-Mastermelt, the main driving factor would be my vision for a cleaner, greener world.

My role in ECO-Mastermelt involves both office and lab work, from preparing samples to conducting fire assays — a lab method that uses very high heat to extract and measure precious metals in a given sample — in the furnace room. In the wider realm of sustainability, my job is to provide customers with high and accurate recovery rates of the precious metals in their waste. As I’m only a diploma holder, I told myself that I had to work extra hard to prove myself. Whenever I had spare time before the end of my shift, I’d go over to the main lab to learn from other chemists and the assistant lab manager about the different methods for assaying precious metal. What matters most is the way we provide feedback to each other, and how we ourselves act upon one another’s inputs to refine our basics.

What I find most fulfilling about the job is that I’m constantly learning new things and dealing with new samples. Every sample that comes into the lab requires different care and assaying methods, which requires us to brainstorm and come up with the best way to achieve the best results. After a period of time, I was entrusted to handle assaying samples with methods such as peroxide fusion and fire assay. All this makes the job less mundane and repetitive.
 

2. What have you learned in your time with the company?

What I’ve learned from working with my team is to have an open mind when there are things to be learnt. More often than not, there are many methods that can be used to achieve a single goal, and not one method is more wrong or right than the other. What matters most is the way we provide feedback to each other, and how we ourselves act upon one another’s inputs to refine our basics.

Something that has left a big impact on me during my time at ECO-Mastermelt is how I’ve been given multiple opportunities to attend courses to upskill myself — one of which being the basic ionising radiation safety course at Republic Polytechnic. This allows me to use an x-ray fluorescence analyser gun to excite particles within a sample to trigger a reading. Apart from external courses, I even got the chance to learn directly from an experienced assistant lab manager from our technical centre in the UK, who taught us how to refine our current methods and make use of new assaying methods that have yet to be adopted in Singapore to tackle a wider range of customer samples. One of my career goals is to learn as much as possible and hopefully arm myself with new skills and practices, so I really appreciate the fact that the company has supported me in growing my technical proficiency.
 

3. What makes the field you’re in such an exciting one to be in, and why should Singaporeans consider this path for their career?

This field is an exciting one because there’s much potential to grow and expand our work. The world is running out of finite resources, as we use more precious metals in everyday products such as phones, cars, and laptops. This is where companies like ECO-Mastermelt can step in to champion sustainability by providing recycling services. It’s a truly meaningful job, so I do hope more Singaporeans will consider this career path.
 

4. What advice would you give to young Singaporeans who are job-hunting or embarking on their first career?

My advice would be to take your time to find a job that aligns with your interests. Don’t rush into the first job offer you receive, but rather, take the time to truly consider your long-term goals and aspirations before taking the next step.

To those embarking on their first career, approach your job with an open mind and actively try to learn from the peers around you. You never know what valuable insights you might pick up from your colleagues or even the most unassuming tasks.