Global economy could reclaim millions from e-scrap gold
The largely untapped gold reservoir within consumer electronics is worth a pretty penny, new market data suggests. Not surprisingly, the US market has the biggest potential due to its immense waste stream.
A total of 62 million tonnes of electronics were produced worldwide in 2022. This is expected to reach 82 million by 2030. That is a good reason to examine the value of the gold content, according to analysts at the Gold Bullion Company.
Biggest volume
The United States produced a reported 4.1 million tonnes of e-scrap in 2022. If of all of this material was recycled, it would yield gold worth around EUR 1.1 billion.
Analysts point out that the US generated twice that of China, the runner-up in
this list. The country produced 1.9 million tonnes of formally documented
e-waste in 2022. This represents around 6.63 tonnes of gold which is worth over
EUR 509 million.
Germany is third with 0.957 tonnes which could deliver an estimated 3.249 tonnes of gold. ‘This would be worth approximately EUR 250 million,’ according to the
Gold Bullion Company.
Urban mining success
Meanwhile, the ten countries recycling the most gold from used electronics per capita in 2022 were:
Norway leads this list with 19.4kg of gold from e-scrap per capita while Finland and Austria recovered 16 kg and 14.5 kg, respectively. Analysts cite ‘strenuous’ extended producer responsibility schemes as a driver for recycling in these countries.
Source: https://recyclinginternational.com/