UK jewelry brand striking gold in e-waste landfills: UK sustainable fine jewelry brand Lylie is extracting gold from e-waste landfills and transforming it into high-end jewelry, according to an interview in The National with Lylie founder Eliza Walter. Lylie mines gold from unused electronic goods, which, according to estimates, could contain some 7% of the world’s total gold supply. “For one ton of earth mined, you’d get a yield of roughly nine grams of gold, but for every ton of e-waste mined, you’d get around 300 grams of gold,” Walter told the National.

How does it work: Lylie works with e-waste partners in the UK to source the metals from the motherboards of game console controllers and PCs, which are shredded and put through chemical baths to remove harmful toxins and make the metals safe for use. Some 80% of e-waste is not recycled properly and therefore ends up in landfills. It can take up to 17.5 old mobile phones to yield enough gold to make one wedding ring.

Others are following suit: Danish brand Pandora — one of the world’s most famous jewelry makers — has pledged to ensure that the gold and silver used in its pieces is 100% recycled by 2025, and that some of it will be sourced from e-waste. Royal Mint, the UK government’s coin producer, has partnered with Canadian clean tech start-up Excir to build the UK’s first plant dedicated to the safe recovery of metals from e-waste.

E-waste recycling is picking up in the region: Saudi-based recycling company Tadweeer signed a USD 11.36 mn agreement with KSA-based firms Tebrak Trading & Contracting Company and Mounes Mohamed Alshayeb for Civil Construction for the development of e-waste repurposing plants in the kingdom in January and Canadian waste management outfit ERS International is launching Oman’s first e-waste recycling facility in this year.