Is There Really a Lot of Gold in Electronics? E-Waste Facts and Myths - Cohen (2024)

You have electronicdevicessitting around the house you’d like to get rid of, and you’ve also heard there’s gold in electronics as well as silver and other precious metals in many ofthem.It stands to reason that if you take them to a certified e-waste company, like Cohen, you should be able to make some good money.

Right?

Unfortunately, you can’t count on it.

In fact, the opposite will likely be the case. Many recyclers, including Cohen,willcharge you a small fee totake them off your hands.

Even so, properly disposing of household and handheld devices is important, and it’s the right thing to do.

It’s true there’softensilver,platinum, palladium andgold in our damaged or outmoded electronics, not to mention plastic, glass and other materials that have somescrapvalue.Theprimary reasonis that precious metals conduct electricitymuch betterthan alloys. They also have properties like corrosion resistance and hardness that are important in electronic devices.

Unfortunately,the likelihood of making a lot of money –hittingthe proverbial “goldmine”–by disposing of them with a company like Cohendepends on whether we’re talking about what’s lying around the house ortons of the stuff collected and processedfor recycling, reuse or resale.

Volume is the key.It’scertainlypossible to make money on used cell phones, computers, laptops and other electronic devices, but only if you’re sellinga whole lotof them.Individuals and companies that gatherthe amount ofe-wasteneeded to make it payaresometimescalled “urban miners,”and they do itfull time.

The problem for home recyclers is that, with thefew itemsthatarestashed in drawers, the basem*nt or thegarage,it’s not likely the precious metalswill amount to enough to cover the costs of breaking them into their various parts.Asgreatas it would be toget decent money from thegold in your old cell phone, the fact is processing costs are higher than whatthe precious metalultimatelywill end up being worth.

There are three ways that a retired device can find value in a new life: resale of the whole device, resale of its parts, or resale of the material once it hasbeen shredded. The path that any given device takes depends on its condition, how modern its components are, storage and RAM capacity, and other factors.

If a device is truly end-of-life, it will be destroyed, and the separated recyclable materials will be sold back into the manufacturing stream. That would include any precious metals in the device.

But it’s important to remember that metals are traded by weight, andan 8-lb laptopor 25-lb monitormay only contain a few grams of precious metals at most.Precious metal values can fluctuate from day to day, hour to hour and even minute to minute.The majority ofa device’sweight comes from less valuable material like plastic and glass.

Then there’s the question of whether the gold is pure, mixed with other metals or contains other materials. In other words, even if the precious metal were already separated from the rest, the value would depend on its grade, i.e., the composition or quality. Obviously, metals with higher grades are more valuable because they do not need to be refined to separate them from everything else.

A scrapped, shredded laptop might end up being worth about $10 per pound of material, maybe more if it is an older deviceand contains more gold.Newer-generation devices typically contain less gold as advancements in technology and efforts to reduce production costs have pushed tech manufacturers to design thinner, lighter, less resource-intensive units.

If the device or its parts are instead being resold for secondary use, the value of the metal is irrelevant –all ofthose parts have their ownmarketvalues. For instance, as of this writing, laptop RAM is worth about $20/lb–but,a single laptop may only contain 1 oz of RAM, so the value doesn’t start adding up until you’re dealing in bulk.

There are multiple steps in recycling, refurbishing or reselling electronics that come between the moment you leave your old cell phone or laptop at a certified recycling facility and when they can be used to manufacture new products.

A full laptop, in good condition, and with modern components (e.g.,Intel i3 or newer), may resell for about $40. Butthen youhave tofactor in labor, processing, and shipping, all of which eat into that value.

Each action costs money, usually in labor, overhead and storage, and between each action there’s generally aroadtripfrom one type of facilitytoanother,such as transportfrom a collection facility to the place where the e-waste is deconstructedto, ultimately, where it’s refined or resold.

Laptops are among the more labor-intensive devices to test, sanitize, and refurbish – a process that happens by hand, down to the last tiny screw. Monitors can also be challenging, especially the old CRT style, which contain hazardous materials and must be processed by a specialist in order to safely recover the recyclables.Likewise, devices that rely on batteries will lose value because those batteries must be recycled separately and safely.

Bottom line: Yes, there is valuable precious metal and other materials in electronics, but less than you’d think, and recycling that metal doesn’t pay for itself.

So,unfortunately,you’re probably not going tometaphorically “strike gold”selling your old cell phones, TVs and computer equipment, unless you are dealing in large volumes offairly moderndevices. That’s why businesses who rely heavily on IT equipment and go through frequent upgrade cycles usecertified IT asset disposition (ITAD)providers, to recover the value of their old equipment while protecting their data and the environment.

Disposingof e-wasteproperly and safely is still important.

First, it costs less and is significantly less damaging to the environment to recycle precious metals than it is to minethem.For example, “One ton of circuit boards is estimated to contain40 to 800 times moregold than one metric ton of ore.”

In other words, theworld’s e-wastegeneration is growing much faster thane-waste isbeing collected or recycled.

To change that trend, we all need to do our part.

Cohen believesdoing rightbyour fellow human beingsand environmentis reason enough toproperlydispose of e-waste with acertified company. Wehope youagree.

To recycle of your e-waste, please visit one of our facilities.