According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about 9,071.85kg of copper, 9,071kg of palladium, 249.48kg of silver and 22.68kg of gold are recovered if we recycle 1 million mobile phones.
Pablo Gámez Cersosimo, a researcher in the Netherlands, said that in the next 25 years, demand for metals and minerals will increase 12 times. “Every year, we need to deal with one Mount Everest,” he said. Mining materials such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, nickel, tin, antimony or bismuth from the Earth is expensive and harmful to the environment.
Incentive policies
Ruediger Kuehr, professor at the University of Limerick (Ireland) and head of the United Nations Sustainable Cycle Program (Scycle) in Germany, said that important resources such as gold, silver,… can recovered and returned to the production cycle. If we do not recycle these materials, we will need to exploit new sources of supply, which will harm the environment.
According to the Global E-waste Monitor, in just seven years, there will be 74 million tons of global e-waste each year due to increased consumption, shortened device lifespans, and limitations related to repairs. Therefore, e-waste recycling is not only good for the environment, but it is now also a potentially profitable industry.
Demand for gold recycling increased sharply.
Not only gold, the Japanese Government is also encouraging the recycling of other precious metals in electric vehicle circuit boards to enhance economic security.
Japan agreed to establish a common framework with countries in the Southeast Asian region on resource recycling, with the goal of greater international cooperation to ensure the supply of e-waste. Currently, only a few countries effectively exploit this gold source.
In addition, Japan also limits the export of electronic waste. Amendments to the Basel Convention (International Convention on the Transboundary Movement and Disposal of Hazardous Wastes) coming into force in 2025 will further restrict the transport of used circuit boards and many other scrap.
Along with that, experts are also finding new methods to recycle gold from waste. In China, scientists developed a new technique that can both extract gold from electronic waste while minimizing the environmental impact of the processing process.
Richard Liu, Director of Sustainable Development for Huawei’s consumer business group (China), said he is looking for ways to make smartphone recycling easier.
As for Javier Targhetta, CEO of Atlantic Copper, Spain will likely achieve 100% treatment and recycling. This is a very important step to become the first country in the world to achieve that.