Rare metals from e-waste

This year, beautifully wrapped laptops, mobile phones or even new TV sets lay under numerous Christmas trees. They are enthusiastically put into use - and the old electronic devices are disposed of. The e-waste contains resources such as neodymium, indium and gold. What happens to the valuable materials' And how much rare metal is contained in mobile phones, computers and monitors that are still in use today? Empa researchers have investigated these questions. The three natural resources gold, neodymium and indium are among the rarest elements on earth: each of the three metals accounts for less than 0.00001% of the earth's crust. They can be found in a large number of electronic devices, in small quantities, but in key functions: Indium as indium tin oxide is electrically conductive and transparent at the same time. Because of these properties, the material is used in LCD screens, for example.