Every discarded phone, laptop and fridge holds some gold and copper. The world's yearly e-waste has $15 billion of gold. How much copper?
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$19 billion
The copper in a year's worth of the world's discarded electronics is worth $19 billion, more than the $15 billion in gold and the $16 billion in iron. The gold is worth a lot more per ounce, but the copper is in every cable, coil and circuit board, and that adds up faster. Only 22% of the world's e-waste was documented as collected and recycled in 2022.
A year of the world's e-waste holds $15 billion in gold and $19 billion in copper. Only 22% of it gets recycled.
Source: ITU/UNITAR Global E-waste Monitor 2024 · checked Mar 2024