Great Britain’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is teaming with local business to increase reclamation of precious metals from electronic and industrial waste. DEFRA estimates that twelve million tons of electronic products will be disposed of, as waste, by the year 2020. These items contain valuable, recyclable precious metals including, silver, gold, palladium, platinum, indium and gallium.
While silver, gold, platinum and palladium have realized extreme valuation increases in the last few years, rare metals are always in demand for industrial purposes. UK Secretary of Business, Vince Cable believes these efforts will create both innovation and growth in the British economy.
The primary goal of the Resource Security Action Plan is to make the country less susceptible to fluctuations in raw materials prices and supplies. Additional aspects of the proposed program are to encourage repair and reuse of broken or previously used electronic equipment. The department is offering cash incentives to businesses establishing partnerships to prevent such waste.
