Dell to use gold from e-waste in millions of new motherboards

[HEXUS]

And launches an e-waste gold jewellery collection with Nikki Reed (Twilight).

Read more.

[outwar6010]

This is quite awesome

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Wait,wut?? This isn't a normal thing anyway??

I know in Japan they have been doing it for nearly a decade:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/bu...05recycle.html

[Corky34]

While it sounds like a good idea I'd be interested to know more details of how the recycling is done, having seen how it's done in some countries with people burning ewaste in open air fires and breathing in all sorts of toxic fumes so they can extract a few pence worth of semi precious metal just to feed themselves and their family, and knowing some of the chemicals left over from recycling hard to get at precious metals, I'm left wondering how accurate the 99 per cent lower environmental impact than traditionally mined gold statement is.

[Millennium]

While it sounds like a good idea I'd be interested to know more details of how the recycling is done, having seen how it's done in some countries with people burning ewaste in open air fires and breathing in all sorts of toxic fumes so they can extract a few pence worth of semi precious metal just to feed themselves and their family, and knowing some of the chemicals left over from recycling hard to get at precious metals, I'm left wondering how accurate the 99 per cent lower environmental impact than traditionally mined gold statement is.

This. It's like electric cars at the moment, sure they're the future but the current battery manufacturing and so on is so energy intensive you don't really save CO2 over the course of the vehicles lifetime. Well that was the case a year or two ago, may have improve.

[Arvy]

Good to see them take a step towards being more sustainable.

[virtuo]

While it sounds like a good idea I'd be interested to know more details of how the recycling is done, having seen how it's done in some countries with people burning ewaste in open air fires and breathing in all sorts of toxic fumes so they can extract a few pence worth of semi precious metal just to feed themselves and their family, and knowing some of the chemicals left over from recycling hard to get at precious metals, I'm left wondering how accurate the 99 per cent lower environmental impact than traditionally mined gold statement is.

There's a good "how it's made" on youtube that goes through it, they basically melt eveything down and use big electrolysis baths to extract the metals. Very interesting.

[Ttaskmaster]

Hobbyist metalworkers have also been reclaiming gold and the like from this stuff.

[valhar2000]

This. It's like electric cars at the moment, sure they're the future but the current battery manufacturing and so on is so energy intensive you don't really save CO2 over the course of the vehicles lifetime. Well that was the case a year or two ago, may have improve.

So electric car manufacturers sell their cars for less than the manufacturing cost... out of the goodness of their hearts?

[Noli]

So electric car manufacturers sell their cars for less than the manufacturing cost... out of the goodness of their hearts?

That's not what he said at all.

Reading comprehension fail.

[GoNz0]

I'm sure Dell are announcing this as part of a plan to blame upcoming motherboard faults on the "recycled gold"

[Sunderas]

Wait,wut?? This isn't a normal thing anyway??

I know in Japan they have been doing it for nearly a decade:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/bu...05recycle.html

I thought the same... Jesus some countries are lagging way behind...

[ik9000]

we were taught in A-level chemistry about bio-leaching refuse heaps (and low grade ore slag heaps) to extract precious metals, copper and similar. It doesn't need masses of energy, but the bacteria rely on cyanide solutions - yup you read that right - and so very very careful environmental controls are required, and some seriously well designed and maintained concrete bunds and dams. The case study was a plant in eastern europe - Bulgaria I think - sadly a few years later the Danube was poisoned in a major cyanide leak. I always thought about that plant, and wondered whether it was the same place.