Freeport, New York — At eWorks in Freeport, New York, piles of dusty televisions, personal computers, printers and other old tech are the start of an electronic treasure hunt.
“There is a value that would be there,” eWorks CEO Mark Wilkins told CBS News. “Maybe it’s a small value, but it’s our job to really go through that process and evaluate each one of those components.”
Wilkins’ team first tests to see if electronics still work. If not, they are disassembled, because anything with a chip can contain gold, and more than you might think.
And it’s not just the gold that can be seen with your eye on circuit boards, but also the minuscule pieces packed inside processors and other components.
Alireza Abbaspourrad, an associate professor of food chemistry and ingredient technology at Cornell University, says there’s more gold in a ton of electronic waste than in a ton of ore mined from the earth.
Abbaspourrad explains that about one million used cellphones can produce “something close to 70 to 85 pounds of gold.”
But to date, the process has required harmful chemicals like cyanide to filter it out. So, Abbaspourrad and his team at Cornell developed a method they say is more efficient, and which carries less environmental risk. The process uses an organic compound to absorb gold ions like a sponge.
“Our sponge selectively targets only gold, and that’s a major difference,” Abbaspourrad said.
That gold can then be reused in solar panels, new electronics and possibly even jewelry. Easier and cheaper extraction could boost the financial incentive to safely recycle, and keep toxic metals out of landfills.
A United Nations report released last year found that in 2022, the world generated 62 million tons of electronic waste, such as items like outdated cell phones, and laptops. That marked an 82% increase from just a decade before.
And according to Cornell, global e-waste is expected to grow to 80 million metric tons annually by 2030.
“I think the world right now is much more aware of it,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins and eWorks sees that growing pile as an opportunity. Founded more than a decade ago, the company has created dozens of jobs for employees with disabilities who learn how to hand, sort and take apart old tech.
“Our mission is to provide training, education and employment for people with disabilities,” Wilkins said. “So, about 48% of our workforce are people with special needs.”
It’s a chance to help more people, and the planet, and it is made possible by mining gadgets for gold.
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