4 ms·
Gold is definitely not discarded, it's usually recycled out of electronics.
by ipsum2 3y ago
Gold is definitely not discarded, it's usually recycled out of electronics.
- defrost 3y agoOut of the electronics that are recycled, sure. Currently thats less than 20% of the electronic waste generated. Annual e-waste generation: The world generated 53.6 Mt of e-waste in 2019. That's an average of 7.3 kg per capita. The amount of e-waste generated is expected to grow at about 3.5% per year and will reach 74.7 Mt by 2030. E-waste recycling rate: In 2019 only 17.4% of the e-waste was collected and recycled. from: https://blog.emew.com/global-e-waste-statistics https://blog.emew.com/global-e-waste-statistics (unverified by cross check, literally a first hit on search)
- hnbad 3y agoAlso as far as I'm aware most of the electronics recycling happens in underdeveloped countries, often by literally shoving circuit boards into vats of acid. There's money in e-recycling but it doesn't justify the expenses of doing it in a more sophisticated way than that, especially one that requires paying workers a reasonable wage and maintaining workplace safety requirements.