China and the Future of Rare Earth Metals
A recent diplomatic spat between China and Japan has heightened territorial tensions and called attention to China’s growing…
Tags: extraction
China ‘Rare-Earths’ Stranglehold Weakened by Japan Recycling
As Deng Tsiao-Ping observed before his death, rare earth metals — which are crucial to producing all manner…
Japan Recycles Minerals from Used Electronics
Two decades after global competition drove the mines in this corner of Japan to extinction, Kosaka is again…
The dead gadget glutton
Our toys and devices are amazing -- until they're obsolete. That's bad news for the planet, but good…
How Much E-Waste is Out There?
We know that the popularity of urban mining has skyrocketed in the past decade, but the sheer amount…
Cell Phones’ Other Precious Metals
There are literally billions of cell phones around the world, and millions of makes and models, so it…
How Urban Mining Works
You might not know it but there are veins of precious minerals that are richer than any goldmine,…
How Urban Mining Works
1. You might imagine that your new phone will last forever... Today, we live in an age of…