The problem is the separation #

By Jonathan Richards Posted Thursday 7th August 2008 15:32 GMT

While gadgets may contain more precious metals than the corresponding natural ores, they're combined with really unpleasant organic compounds in the plastics cases and PCBs, etc. that makes the separation process really fraught. There are reportedly reclamation sites in China where the effluents and pollutants are ignored to the great detriment of the workers and residents around them. I hope that the Japanese 'outsourcing' is not just feeding a dirty industry.