Your average EV has six times more mineral content than a petrol- or diesel-powered vehicle. All those metals need to be dug, scraped, blasted, or leached out of the earth. There is massive demand for batteries as countries eye up ambitious zero-emissions targets. But what's the cost?
One ton of circuit boards from old e-waste can contain 100 times more gold than a ton of mined gold. Now, scrappers like Wade Crawley in Sydney, Australia, are cashing in. He's partnered with Mint Innovation, a company that invented a safer and cleaner way to recover precious metals from electronics.