A theory I've had for a while is that in the future we will mine the garbage dumps of today. All of the materials that we throw away today will become more and more scarce in the future. Eventually we'll pull all of the concentrated resources out of the planet. There will be higher concentrations of precious metals in our garbage dumps, than in the ground. As these resources become more scarce they will become more expensive. Eventually it will become cheaper to mine resources from garbage dumps of the past, than from standard ore deposits. I've been thinking this for a long time, and it's good to read an interesting article on the subject. Read this article. It's a photo-essay documenting electronics waste recycling in China. It's mostly pictures but there are some words mixed in, including:
Computers are much more than just wires and plastic; they are also a source of highly valuable metals, including gold, copper, and aluminum. One ton of computer scrap contains more gold than 17 tons of gold ore. Circuit boards can be 40 times richer in copper than typical copper ore. For this reason, workers in e-waste dumps in the southern Chinese city of Guiyu carefully sort the computers’ hardware and melt down the most valuable parts.
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