Urban Miners: The “Sanford And Son” Economy

Usually found in areas with scarce resources, the practice of “Urban Mining” is growing around the world. The idea behind urban mining is to extract all of the precious metals hidden within old electronics to re-use or recycle into new products. The rising price of gold, silver, copper and iridium are driving this practice into the mainstream.

Reuters reports:

The materials recovered are reused in new electronics parts and the gold and other precious metals are melted down and sold as ingots to jewellers and investors as well as back to manufacturers who use gold in the circuit boards of mobile phones because gold conducts electricity even better than copper.

“It can be precious or minor metals, we want to recycle whatever we can,” said Tadahiko Sekigawa, president of Eco-System Recycling Co which is owned by Dowa Holdings Co Ltd.

A tonne of ore from a gold mine produces just 5 grams (0.18 ounce) of gold on average, whereas a tonne of discarded mobile phones can yield 150 grams (5.3 ounce) or more, according to a study by Yokohama Metal Co Ltd, another recycling firm.

[via Cryptogon]