GEM is hunting for treasure – in old landfill sites
Society is generally getting better at dealing with its trash. However, burying that trash isn’t cheap or keeping it in the ground. Old landfill sites are covered with grass and turned into innocuous-looking hills filled with waste, and even they have to be monitored to make sure they aren’t contaminating the local environment. For instance, as the material decomposes, greenhouse gases such as methane are given off. If there is not enough methane to make it economically viable to capture (and there usually isn’t), it often needs to be burned off to convert it to CO₂, a less potent greenhouse gas. There are also concerns that thousands of older sites, often built on flood plains or near the seashore, may be at risk from flooding or coastal erosion.
So what should be done about these old landfill sites? One answer may be to dig them up again. Old landfills have valuable waste, mainly processed metals, glass, and electronics. Indeed, junk electronic goods such as old TVs or computers typically have higher concentrations of gold and rare earth elements per tonne than are found naturally in ore. A 2014 United Nations University report stated that each year more than 300 tonnes of processed gold are dumped in landfills – that’s 10% of the total amount mined worldwide. Belgium, for example, is already mining its old landfills by extracting waste and filtering for metals and recyclable material.
Digging into the past
Existing old landfills could be, quite literally, untapped gold mines. However, with growing demand and the scarcity of materials, including rare earth elements, these may be a valuable future national resource for much more than just metal. Renewables' vision suggests designing new landfills to capture energy from them and deal with problematic waste streams such as plastics. For instance, heat from decomposing rubbish or burning waste could be trapped and turned into geothermal power, providing a "rubbish solution" to our crypto mining energy needs.
So what should be done about these old landfill sites? One answer may be to dig them up again. Old landfills have valuable waste, mainly processed metals, glass, and electronics. Indeed, junk electronic goods such as old TVs or computers typically have higher concentrations of gold and rare earth elements per tonne than are found naturally in ore. A 2014 United Nations University report stated that each year more than 300 tonnes of processed gold are dumped in landfills – that’s 10% of the total amount mined worldwide. Belgium, for example, is already mining its old landfills by extracting waste and filtering for metals and recyclable material.
Digging into the past
Existing old landfills could be, quite literally, untapped gold mines. However, with growing demand and the scarcity of materials, including rare earth elements, these may be a valuable future national resource for much more than just metal. Renewables' vision suggests designing new landfills to capture energy from them and deal with problematic waste streams such as plastics. For instance, heat from decomposing rubbish or burning waste could be trapped and turned into geothermal power, providing a "rubbish solution" to our crypto mining energy needs.
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