Silver recovery from spent chemistry (Noritsu minilab + Fuji DPII) – worth it?

[PRINTLAB]

Hi everyone,

I’m running Noritsu minilabs printing on Fuji Crystal Archive DPII paper, and I’m looking into silver recovery options for our spent chemistry.

I’d love to learn from your experience and get some insights on a few points:

1. Are you actively recovering silver? If so, what method or turn-key commercial system are you using (e.g., electrolytic units, metallic replacement cartridges)?

2. What are the costs? How does it look terms of upfront equipment costs, ongoing maintenance, and ROI? Is a commercial setup worth the investment for a typical minilab volume?

3. Yield / Expectations: Roughly how much silver can be extracted per liter of spent fixer/bleach-fix (or per square meter of DPII paper processed)?

Any recommendations, vendor suggestions, or real-world numbers from your day-to-day operations would be greatly appreciated!