Japan's urban mining boom picks up as gold prices rise

Businesses and government eye growing opportunities to turn e-waste into treasure

20231106N Gold

Gold and other metals are extracted from electronic waste via so-called urban mining. (Photo courtesy of Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo)

MOMOKA MATSUMOTO, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- With gold surging in price, efforts to extract the precious metal from used circuit boards and other electronic waste are ramping up in Japan.

Japan has little in the way of natural resources. But it is considered one of the most promising markets for urban mining: turning discarded electronics into a source of gold as well as of other important metals, such as those used in electric vehicles.

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