

Mining landfill for gold - parenthesis
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3160259/Britain-could-be-mining-landfill-for-gold-in-a-decade.html

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timcederman
Covered in depth in the latest New Scientist, and something I've wondered
about in the past.

Main problem is that only 5% of landfill is metal/electronics (electronics
makes up 0.1% of that). This compares with 2.1% diapers/sanitary towels.

The majority is garden waste (nearly 60%), followed closely by paper (nearly
30%). Alcoa have considered it: "if we thought it was the most efficient
thing, we'd do it."

"[Getting recyclable waste] out of landfill is more expensive than buying
aluminium direct from a recycling plant. Plus, no two landfills are the same
... with all kinds of less useful or dangerous materials such as asbestos."

