Non-ferrous metals are indispensable raw materials for national economic and defense infrastructure. In China, the high external dependency, Iow ore grades, scarcity of large-and medium-scale mines, costly extraction, and slow natural remediation processes pose significant challenges to the non-ferrous metals industry. This study reviews the evolution of policies related to non-ferrous metals, highlighting the industry' s scale and key contradictions. Notably. printed circuit boards (PCBs) contain far higher concentrations of non-ferrous metals than natural ores, offering substantial economic potential. Current large-scale PCB processing predominantly employs bath smelting technology. This paper elaborates on the application of bath smelting for e-waste treatment, including its research progress and global industrialization trends. It systematically summarizes domestic technological achievements, analyzes the status of bath smelting in resource recovery from technical promotion and barrier-breaking perspectives, and discusses the unique characteristies of non-ferrous metal bath smelting. Future development directions are also proposed to provide insights for advancing resource-based utilization of non-ferrous metals in e-waste.