Current status of uuban minig
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- Current status of uuban minig
Do you know “Urban Mining”?
The concept of urban mining is based on the idea of “mining” copper, gold, rare metals, etc., which are found in large amount of used waste, such as home appliances thrown away in urban area.
It is said that mobile phones are the most familiar home appliances among used waste.
Mobile phones are assembled with various types of parts, and in addition to the main metals of gold, silver, copper and aluminum, more than 20 kinds of rare metals are also used. New mobile phones are being released one after another, but how many of them are being scrapped every year?
Today, Japan is regarded as one of the world’s leading rare metal consumers. Rare metals are an essential part of Japanese industry and are extremely important for the further development of the Japanese economy and for not losing out to international competition from other countries.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a stable supply of rare metals, and this “urban mining” is drawing attention today. Japan is a rare metal consuming country and at the same time has the potential to be one of the world’s leading countries in rare metal resources.