It is for the gold. So much that in the UK we had our Royal Mint start
a proper industrial pipeline for e-waste [0].
What I found heartbreaking from the stories from India, China and
Africa is that mainly kids of about 8 - 16 yo work on illegal
recycling.
They smash up the e-waste by hand, so they're breathing in dust clouds
of plastic and metal particles, PFAS, glass fragments, PCB... Then
they wash out the recoverables using a light aqua-regia (mix of nitric
and hydrochloric acid). The industrial health effects are
unimaginable.
EDIT: Just saw your update and concur that design-for-RRR is the way
forward.
It is for the gold. So much that in the UK we had our Royal Mint start a proper industrial pipeline for e-waste [0].
What I found heartbreaking from the stories from India, China and Africa is that mainly kids of about 8 - 16 yo work on illegal recycling.
They smash up the e-waste by hand, so they're breathing in dust clouds of plastic and metal particles, PFAS, glass fragments, PCB... Then they wash out the recoverables using a light aqua-regia (mix of nitric and hydrochloric acid). The industrial health effects are unimaginable.
EDIT: Just saw your update and concur that design-for-RRR is the way forward.
[0] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230904-how-the-royal-mi...