One of the most precious materials we’ve ever known is going to waste.
Five billion years ago, the death of a star brought an important element into our universe. It would go on to become one of the most sought-after we have ever known. From that moment, it was destined to be revered. To be a vital cultural artefact with significance shared across people, place and time.
This element was gold. The dense, alluring metal of staggering social and economic influence. Exactly when it was first discovered is up for debate, but it wasn’t until around 3600 BC that we’d first temper it. It wouldn’t be until much later that we’d unlock all its secrets. Back then, we could never have known just how instrumental gold would be in shaping the modern world.
Throughout history, it’s coated religious and spiritual ornaments. Decorated crowns. Covered buildings. Driven economies and looped around our fingers. And to this day, it remains one of the most prized materials one can own. But it’s no longer found in just currency and decoration. Gold is now a key component in most of our tech. It’s everywhere. Inside everyday electronics. Lining the outside of satellites. Hidden in the circuitry of our phones, TVs and computers, it forms part of the essential connective tissue in the devices we rely on.
Discarded
Yet these devices do, eventually, come to the end of their lives. They’re lost in the bottom of a cupboard. Forgotten in a box in the attic. Piled up in landfill. And when they’re discarded, so too are the precious metals within them. As we move on to the next best phone and close last-gens laptop, the gold they hold is lost.
It’s estimated that as much as 7% of the world’s gold could be stuck in discarded tech. And it’s a similar story for the likes of silver, palladium and copper. The UN predicts the generation of e-waste to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030, up 33% from the 62 million tonnes produced in 2022. Of that, less than 20% was collected and recycled, including as much as $91 billion worth of precious metal.
We all try to do our bit to reduce our impact on the world – donning pre-loved clothes and changing how much meat we eat – but doing these things while treating one of Earth’s most precious, finite materials the way we do feels… odd. Isn’t it time we confronted how the old tech we throw away is slowly but surely contributing to a two-pronged problem? Not just the rise of e-waste, but also the gradual disappearance of gold.
Its fate isn’t sealed yet, though. Some are taking steps to ensure that gold never comes to the end of its life. The Royal Mint, with its precious metal recovery plant in South Wales, can now sustainably extract it from e-waste with a purity of 99%. With the reclaimed metal they’re crafting luxurious jewellery, some of which has already made its debut at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year.
Sustainability
If sustainability is about recognising and reconsidering our attitudes towards the things in our world that run out, then precious metal must be part of the conversation. Amongst them all, gold stands out as an element that’s more than just useful in today’s age, but as one whose symbolism echoes throughout time. It may be a component in fleeting things like phones, but its cultural relevance is unwavering and its value, eternal.
For us to continue to allow gold to go to waste wouldn’t just be a mistake. It would be to do a disservice to one of the most important guiding principles of sustainability – that it’s the finite things in life that we must pay the greatest respect to. If we want to create more regenerative systems and cycles, we cannot allow these resources to slowly disappear. So, let’s take what those like The Royal Mint are doing as a sign to renew our enthusiasm. Let’s act not only to protect the world from the seemingly endless rise of e-waste, but to preserve the pure, eternal value of gold.
