The dead can save lives through organ donation. But did you know that spent electronic equipment can also save humans — by reducing mining that destroys the ecology and leads to potentially fatal climate change events?
Yes, electronic equipment such as mobile phones can be recycled to make new electronic devices. Instead of haphazardly throwing away old phones or laptops, disposing these at designated places can help experts retrieve from them critical industrial metals. Not only can these be used to make new phones or laptops, but such a system will reduce the need to mine some metals. This process is called urban mining. It can also help make India reduce its import dependence on some crucial metals, some of which are procured from unfriendly countries.
Talking specifically about mobile phones, a single handset generally has over 10 different metals which, if smartly handled, can be reused. The printed circuit board (PCB), for example, in a mobile phone has lead, arsenic, gold, silver, copper, aluminium and other base metals. The liquid crystal display (LCD) consists of gold, silver, arsenic, barium, copper, and other base metals. The camera comprises silver, copper and nickel. The flexible substrate and motor is made of silver, gold, copper and platinum. The speaker and microphone consists of copper, manganese and zinc. The battery is made up of lithium and graphite.
According to a 2015 research paper put out by the Department of Environmental Engineering of Delhi Technological University, one tonne of mobile phone waste consists of 3,573 grams of silver, 368 gm of gold and 287 gm of palladium. For perspective, a good-quality large-sized underground mine has 8-10 gm of gold for each tonne of mined ore, while marginal underground mines yield 4-6 gm of gold, according to the World Gold Council (WCC).
Going by these numbers, recycling such waste can be a gold mine — no pun intended — for India. Anecdotal evidence suggests we all have an unused or defective phone or laptop, or two, in some drawer. The International Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum said 5.3 billion mobile phones would be discarded around the world in 2022.
Read More at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/sme-sector/urban-mining-why-e-waste-processing-is-a-billion-dollar-opportunity-india-shouldnt-miss/articleshow/99803588.cms