Cities hold tons of materials that can be reused — and doing so can
address over-exploitation of scarce natural resources. From buildings to
electronic waste, we are surrounded by value. So how does urban mining
work?
With demand of natural resources increasing and supply decreasing, the use of recycled materials is gaining importance.
Mineral resources like , bricks or ceramics can be found in large quantities in many buildings across countries like Germany. Metals such as steel, copper, and aluminum, and materials like plastic, gypsum, asphalt and wood are also abundant. Household waste is also a major source of valuable materials
.
Urban mining has many advantages over the materials are already in the city where they are likely to be needed again, so there is no need for long transport routes. And the environmental impact, particularly in land use, is clearly lower than mining for natural resources.
Just about everything can be reused
Buildings, furniture, electrical appliances and old radiators are just as much part of industrial society's "anthropogenic deposits" as disused railways, industrial wastelands, underground cables or that forgotten in the depths of your drawer.
These so-called secondary raw materials can be reused for commercial and industrial production, thus limiting imports from abroad, protecting natural resources and the environment.
For recycling experts, a simple car represents a large manmade stock of raw materials; even a rusty old car has value. The Internet is full of retailers looking for gears, doors and other replacement parts. The iron, plastic, glass and metal can all be sold to make new products. Tires can be processed into road surfaces or insulating material.
In Summary, there is A FORTUNE to be made in waste :-)
I've got some Metal recycling suggestions and tips listed at Life is an Adventure if you're interested :-) Might get some ideas flowing :-)
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
― Edward Everett Hale
