Finally — a use for those iPod nanos and not-so-smart phones filling up that bottom desk drawer.
A California-based startup is building “e-waste” mines and refineries to convert junk electronics into gold and other metals, Ars Technia reported.
BluOak Resources will mine the precious metals from old gadgets to help eliminate the need for environmentally destructive methods of acquiring resources such as strip and open-pit mining. They’re also looking to reduce consumer e-waste, which is 3.2 million tons in the U.S. annually, according to their website.
The company already raised $35 million in seed funding and is set to begin production in their first facility in Osceola, Ark. in 2015.
They hope to initially process 15 million scraps per year. That’s a lot of old Play Stations.
