In order to extract just 10 grams of gold, powerful mines have to move up to 5 tons of ore. A lot of diesel exhaust gases are emitted into the atmosphere during the complex use of the machine. The use of chemicals such as mercury and cyanide also makes gold mining an environmental hazard. Wherever gold deposits are tapped, rivers are also dammed, forests cleared and mountains removed. These are all good arguments for buying back scrap gold, remelting it in refineries and intensively recycling gold. This is how you win new, valuable gold using methods that are far less harmful to the environment.

It is amazing where recyclable gold or at least usable traces of it can be found everywhere: in dental gold, in old, faded and no longer worn jewellery, but above all in defective technical goods, old industrial fittings and electronic scrap. Because of its excellent material properties, gold is used in a wide variety of modern technology products.

The melting of unused dental gold, crowns, inlays and dental alloys is routine for specialized laboratories. A distinction is made between yellow and white dental gold, as well as prostheses containing gold. In addition to gold, the alloys also contain silver, platinum and palladium - the gold content can be up to 90%. Many owners of unused dental gold are not aware of the values ​​they call their own and how lucrative the proceeds can be at today's market prices. A valuation carried out by a specialist provides certainty about the exact proportion of gold. The fact that this route is economically worthwhile for the buyer is also due to the high gold prices. Because the melting temperature of the platinum that is often added to dental gold is very high, the additional costs of around 200 euros are incurred just for the separation of gold and platinum in one kilogram of dental gold.

Jewellery made of gold, gold bars and gold applications is particularly in demand in the precious metal smelter. Here, too, a laboratory first analyzes the fine gold content, which can vary greatly. In the case of jewellery, decorative stones or pearls may first have to be removed in order to finally get to the gold contained in the jewellery in pure form by recycling electrolysis.

Electronic waste containing gold in mobile phones, computers and co.

The most exciting recycling source is undoubtedly our e-waste. Small amounts of gold are sometimes used in the contacts of mobile phones, computers or cars, which improve electrical conductivity. Factories, workshops and houses are also considered to contain gold, which is why experts are already talking about "urban mining" and calling for these "urban deposits" to be exploited before nature is destroyed. In addition, industrialized countries like Germany, which are poor in raw materials, would become a good deal more independent of expensive imports through large-scale technology gold recycling.

Of course, the gold content of e-waste is in the smallest category. Nevertheless, about as much gold can be recycled from 40 discarded mobile phones as can be extracted from one ton of ore. A ton of old computer circuit boards brings more than 100 grams of precious metal. However, while almost 100 per cent of gold is recovered from jewellery, only about 15 per cent of electronic waste has so far been recovered. 

Most European junk equipment is shipped to Asia or Africa to be cannibalized, where the gold mostly goes undiscovered. Recycling specialists speak of a value of 3.7 billion euros that the lost precious metals could achieve. The coming years will show how sustainable our economy really works. Everyone can contribute. An old smartphone and an old laptop are important sources of raw materials that should not just go into the trash unused.