LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is encouraging consumers to recycle electronics they no longer use.
Officials say valuable resources wind up lost in landfills when old electronics are simply thrown away. Some of the more than 40 elements that make up a mobile phone are copper, tin, cobalt, indium, antimony, silver, gold and palladium.
One metric ton of circuit boards can contain 40 to 800 times the amount of gold and 30 to 40 times the amount of copper mined from one metric ton of ore in the U.S. And for every million smartphones recycled, 35,272 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered.
Arkansans can to check with regional solid waste management districts for e-waste drop-off locations.