Electronic waste "rich" over gold

Research says that "gold content" per tonne of e-waste is 40 to 60 times that of gold ore

According to a new research report from the Xinhua News Agency, the proportion of gold in e-waste is much higher than the average gold grade.

The study, initiated by UNU in collaboration with the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, aims to use data to promote the environmental protection concept of e-waste recycling.

The report said that the global consumer electronics product contains more than 320 tons of gold, the market value is estimated to exceed 16 billion U.S. dollars; silver is 7,500 tons, and the market value is estimated to be 5 billion U.S. dollars.

The report said that the amount of precious metals contained in mobile phones, notebook computers, desktop computers and other electronic products has increased dramatically, but the recovery rate is low. Taking gold as an example, the recovery rate of such precious metals is only 10% to 15%, and the rest of the gold components are either not found by people or are wasted in the process of low-tech recycling.

The report speculated that each ton of circuit boards and each ton of mobile phones contain approximately 200 grams and 300 grams of gold, respectively, while the average grade of gold ore is only 5 grams per ton. This means that the same is a ton, the "gold content" of electronic waste is 40 to 60 times that of gold ore.