Raw materials in electronic devices

    Hover over a device to see what raw materials it contains

1
H
hydrogen
1.008
2
He
helium
4.0026
3
Li
lithium
6.94
4
Be
beryllium
9.0122
5
B
boron
10.81
6
C
carbon
12.011
7
N
nidivogen
14.007
8
O
oxygen
15.999
9
F
fluorine
18.998
10
Ne
neon
20.180
11
Na
sodium
22.990
12
Mg
magnesium
24.305
13
Al
aluminum
26.982
14
Si
silicon
28.085
15
P
phosphorus
30.974
16
S
sulfur
32.06
17
Cl
chlorine
35.45
18
Ar
argon
39.948
19
K
potassium
39.098
20
Ca
calcium
40.078
21
Sc
scandium
44.956
22
Ti
titanium
47.867
23
V
vanadium
50.942
24
Cr
chromium
51.996
25
Mn
manganese
54.938
26
Fe
iron
55.845
27
Co
cobalt
58.933
28
Ni
nickel
58.693
29
Cu
copper
63.546
30
Zn
zinc
65.38
31
Ga
gallium
69.723
32
Ge
germanium
72.63
33
As
arsenic
74.922
34
Se
selenium
78.96
35
Br
bromine
79.904
36
Kr
krypton
83.798
37
Rb
rubidium
85.468
38
Sr
sdivontium
87.62
39
Y
ytdivium
88.906
40
Zr
zirconium
91.224
41
Nb
niobium
92.906
42
Mo
molybdenum
95.96
43
Tc
technetium
[97.91]
44
Ru
ruthenium
101.07
45
Rh
rhodium
102.91
46
Pd
palladium
106.42
47
Ag
silver
107.87
48
Cd
cadmium
112.41
49
In
indium
114.82
50
Sn
tin
118.71
51
Sb
antimony
121.76
52
Te
tellurium
127.60
53
I
iodine
126.90
54
Xe
xenon
131.29
55
Cs
cesium
132.91
56
Ba
barium
137.33
72
Hf
hafnium
178.49
73
Ta
tantalum
180.95
74
W
tungsten
183.84
75
Re
rhenium
186.21
76
Os
osmium
190.23
77
Ir
iridium
192.22
78
Pt
platinum
195.08
79
Au
gold
196.97
80
Hg
mercury
200.59
81
Tl
thallium
204.38
82
Pb
lead
207.2
83
Bi
bismuth
208.98
84
Po
polonium
[208.98]
85
At
astatine
[209.99]
86
Rn
radon
[222.02]
87
Fr
francium
[223.02]
88
Ra
radium
[226.03]
104
Rf
rutherfordium
[265.12]
105
Db
dubnium
[268.13]
106
Sg
seaborgium
[271.13]
107
Bh
bohrium
[270]
108
Hs
hassium
[277.15]
109
Mt
meitnerium
[276.15]
110
Ds
darmstadtium
[281.16]
111
Rg
roentgenium
[280.16]
112
Cn
copernicium
[285.17]
113
Uut
unundivium
[284.18]
114
Fl
flerovium
[289.19]
115
Uup
ununpentium
[288.19]
116
Lv
livermorium
[293]
117
Uus
ununseptium
[294]
118
Uuo
ununoctium
[294]
57
La
lanthanum
138.91
58
Ce
cerium
140.12
59
Pr
praseodymium
140.91
60
Nd
neodymium
144.24
61
Pm
promethium
[144.91]
62
Sm
samarium
150.36
63
Eu
europium
151.96
64
Gd
gadolinium
157.25
65
Tb
terbium
158.93
66
Dy
dysprosium
162.50
67
Ho
holmium
164.93
68
Er
erbium
167.26
69
Tm
thulium
168.93
70
Yb
ytterbium
173.05
71
Lu
lutetium
174.97
89
Ac
actinium
[227.03]
90
Th
thorium
232.04
91
Pa
protactinium
231.04
92
U
uranium
238.03
93
Np
neptunium
[237.05]
94
Pu
plutonium
[244.06]
95
Am
americium
[243.06]
96
Cm
curium
[247.07]
97
Bk
berkelium
[247.07]
98
Cf
californium
[251.08]
99
Es
einsteinium
[252.08]
100
Fm
fermium
[257.10]
101
Md
mendelevium
[258.10]
102
No
nobelium
[259.10]
103
Lr
lawrencium
[262.11]

Articles

E-mining@School is a project about e-waste and education projects with schools all over Europe teaching students about E-waste and empowering students to teach their communities and perform waste collections and raise awareness for critical raw materials.

E-Waste Crisis

We generate 125,000 commercial airplanes worth of E-waste every year.

E-waste solution

How can we solve the E-waste problem?

Transition through critical mass

How to transition through critical mass.

Power the circular economy

How should we power the circular economy?

The e-mining project

Education project on E-waste for students by students.

Partners

Our partners in the E-mining project.

Placeholder

Placeholder

Contact

Contact us for more information on Circular economy or E-mining.

What is Circular Economy?

The economy, our country's' production and consumption which we experience every day is something we don’t think about very much. We find food on the table, clothing in the closet and our phone, laptop or headphones on the table without asking ourselves every day where they came from. Making all these things requires a huge variety of different materials, someone who produces the product and of course someone who picks it up once it is waste.

Over the past decade the world population has been growing and it will grow further. This means that there are more people that need food, clothing and electronic devices. However the place where we retrieve the material, our planet, of course has its limits and raw materials are not endless.

That means, if we want to satisfy everyone’s needs, we have to find new sources of material. We do that by changing the way our economy works from linear to circular.

The economy which we know from our day to day life is actually called a linear economy. But what is so linear about it? It is the way in which material travels along the supply chain. Material enters the economy on the left of this timeline or supply chain, and exits it on the right. This means it travels from sourcing of raw material to smelting and thereby the creation of the actual material. Afterwards the material is used for the component production and then the final product manufacturing. After being sold by the retailer, the product arrives in our houses and ends up in the waste bin and gets transported to the landfill or burning facility.

But where does the material come from which we introduce to the first step? And where does the material go after it has been used in the economy? Looking at our planet, we know that nothing is lost. All material that is wasted after use is either stored in landfills or used to create energy, for example by burning it. Now that we know that nothing is lost, why don’t we try to treat it in a good way and use it again?

That is Circular Economy!

The circular economy just transforms the linear economy into a circular economy by forming a circle connecting the “Sourcing”- stage with the “waste”-stage or even earlier stages. That means waste is directly transformed into the materials that then enter the production process.

But how is that possible? Is it not just waste?

Indeed the products and devices, e.g. phones, clothing and food packaging are waste and not functional anymore. That however doesn’t mean that the material of the products, e.g. plastic, metal or cotton are not usable anymore.

After cleaning and sorting materials according to their concrete elements and additives, like e.g. colour or flame retardant it is possible to smelt the material again and use it instead of newly sourced metals, harvested cotton or primary plastic made directly from oil.

But if it is so easy, why are we not doing that yet?

In fact, at the moment only 30% of plastic waste and less than 20% of cotton waste is recycled in order to use it for new products. That is because recycling as we do it today takes a lot of time and energy and leads to a low quality of material and often ends up in more costs of recycled material compared to the sourcing of new materials.

That is the reason why Circular Economy does not just mean recycling a bit more than now. Circular Economy means a change of our entire economy and society.