The Audi Environmental Foundation has joined forces with the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology to research new ways of recovering raw materials through recycling. Elements such as indium, gallium, or even tin are both finite and essential for modern technologies such as fiber optics, photovoltaics, and semiconductors. Every electronic device is made up of parts that contain these elements. A selective extraction process is planned that will recover these raw materials from incinerated waste. Currently, such materials are lost when the electronic parts that contain them are thrown away with household waste. The new process is designed to keep these valuable high-tech metals in the cycle.
read on