All you need to do is a simple google search of E waste gold recovery and see the multitude of "new' methods being developed out there. The key is being able to do this on a commercial scale I.E. can/bottle recycling is viable to probably get to 99% aluminium and glass, but the logistics of actually doing it means its subsidised by the consumer paying 10c a bottle or glass when they purchase it from the shop and not viable as a standalone operation. They throw out numbers like 70billion but this number would only be achieved for the entire world to setup recycling operations in every single country and recycle everything which would cost way more than this.
The problem is if the same model was implemented for e waste. The scale of operation is the issue. Believe each computer has about 22 dollars worth of gold in it and each mobile phone about 3 dollars so is this a viable business model to setup a recylcing centre to collect devices where a computer might be replaced once every 5 years and mobile once every 2-3 years by a person.
In comparison Recyling cans and bottles for an average household can yield about 100-200 bucks a year so will people really be bothered with computers once in a blue moon is the real question
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