With a forecasted shortage of metals essential to jewellery making, jewellers are turning to e-waste which contains gold, copper and silver
Reducing waste is now a major challenge facing all industries, be it food, fashion, beauty or technology, as all these sectors seek to reduce their impact on the environment and preserve the planet.
It’s not just about prioritising quality over quantity to extend the life of products, but also about encouraging repair and reuse. On the consumer side, this has given rise to a boom in second-hand goods, and on the business side, it has led to growing use of upcycling, giving added value to items destined for the trash.
As a result, waste can now be worth its weight in gold. Sometimes literally.
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Billions worth of waste
Take e-waste. According to the 2020 Global E-waste Monitor report, no less than 53.6 million tonnes of the stuff was generated worldwide in 2019, and this could even reach 74 million tonnes by 2030—a record level. And while there are now plenty of solutions available to recycle all kinds of electronic items, only a tiny fraction (less than a fifth) is currently collected and recycled.
This represents a real disaster for health and for the environment, but also a considerable financial loss. Because the gold, copper, platinum and silver contained in much of this waste is valued at some US$57 billion [around HK$447 billion], and it most often ends up buried or burned.