Electronic waste: Mining gold in the waste
Every day, all over the world millions of electronics or smart devices was thrown into the trash. The UN estimates that each year about 50 million tons of electronic waste are produced.
By 2017, a year to produce wire or electronic waste weight of the battery will be equivalent to 200 the weight of the Empire State Building.
From mobile phones to socket, printer cartridges, or all kinds of batteries, electronic equipment and shorter update cycle has given rise to the growth of electronic waste.
In 2012, global consumers bought 238.5 million TV set, 444 million PCS peace plate, and a staggering 1.75 billion mobile phone. The natural resources defense council estimates that just in the United States, the number of personal computers is thrown away every year is as high as 48 million, the number of mobile phones more amazing: 100 million.
Begawan, according to data from the mobile phone an average of 22 months in life cycle. All the discarded electronic products will produce each year from 5 million to 5 million tons of e-waste. And the amount of these garbage to 33% increase by the year 2020.
Used electronics is considered hazardous waste contain toxic ingredients, such as lead, mercury, cadmium, phosphor, arsenic, flame retardants and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and so on, these are all known carcinogens, may cause liver and kidney damage, gene mutation and other many damaging effects, the human body cannot be normal to accept or digestion, and electronic waste degradation or disposal of the insufficient will cause the toxic substances released into the soil, air, and then infected domestic animals and wild animals and poison crops and drinking water.
The puzzling is the fact that, the proportion of properly dispose of waste electronic products are still low. According to foreign media disclosure, now less than 20% of electronic waste recycling.
Another disturbing is the fact that brought fatal by-product of consumer electronics, when people try to properly for the rubbish recycling, is likely due to problems such as imperfect, eventually they will have to be dumped in other places.
Mining gold in the waste
Exploitation of 1 ton gold sand usually can only extract 5 grams of gold, and one ton of waste mobile phones can be extracted 350 grams of gold, silver, etc., 1.4 kg 1 ton waste PC can be extracted 189 g 16 grams of gold, silver, etc., if the electronic waste recycling, this would be a huge sum of income, now many technology companies are also began to build their own recycling program, in the sale of products of recycling products at the same time, achieve the goal of circular economy.
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