Recovering platinum and pgms from scrap electronic goods could become a major industry in the near future, according to one expert.

Mobile phones, PDAs and laptops all contain elements of pgms and it has been claimed that, in the near future, there will be a large opportunity to make money from extracting precious metals from e-waste.

Scott Andrews, an expert in recycling e-waste from Utah in the US and founder of Recyclebiz.com, has stated that 500 million mobile phones are currently available as scrap in the US alone and that figure represents a billion-dollar industry that has yet to be tapped on a large scale.

In his latest report, Mr Andrews is aiming to educate ordinary members of the public in the US on how they can take advantage of the potential e-waste offers and he is also calling on the US government to do more to promote e-waste recycling.

Mr Andrews' report adds that interest in buying precious metals recovered from scrap is growing, although the amount that potential buyers are willing to pay still varies widely.

In July it was revealed that the UN is currently working on new measures to regulate the scrapping of metal-intensive mobiles, which could see producers forced to bear the cost of disposing of e-waste.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd