Rural India sells household gold for cash

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KOLKATA: The volume of old gold being recycled in tier-2 and tier-3 cities has risen 50% since January.

A price hike of 6.68% in gold since January and low access to digital transactions are encouraging to recycle their old gold in these areas. Jewellers said people are liquidating gold to take advantage of the price rise, especially during the wedding season. Gold price has risen from Rs 27,570 per 10 gm on January 1 to Rs 29,400 per 10 gm.

"People living in smaller towns are recycling gold to meet the household demand. In these areas, the digital transaction facilities are not adequate to help them purchase gold. Most of them are not used to such transactions. And they do not want to give away the cash in hand. All these factors are forcing them to recycle old gold," said Nitin Khandelwal, chairman, All India Gem & Jewellery Trade Federation.

World Gold Council estimates that 89.6 tonnes of gold was recycled in 2016 compared to 80.2 tonnes in 2015. "The government should come up with a recycled gold policy which will give a direction to people who are willing to offload ancestral gold," said Surendra Mehta, national secretary, India Bullion & Jewellers Association (IBJA).

Nearly 25,000 tonnes of idle gold are locked up in Indian households. Saurabh Gadgil, managing director, PNG Jewellers, said people are encashing gold to take advantage of the rising prices.

"Our stores in Aurangabad, Nanded, Sangli-Kolhapur, Jalna and Vidarbha are witnessing heavy flow of recycled gold. There is also a strong sentiment in the that gold prices will shoot up going ahead," he said.

Electronics recycling center proposed for Cumberland County

MIDDLESEX TOWNSHIP, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. - Recycling TV's and other electronics can be a challenge for the people who want to get rid of them.

State law makes it illegal to put electronics in the trash. Recycling those items can often be a costly program for many Pennsylvania counties.

It can be difficult for people to find a new home for old TV's and other electronics in Cumberland County.

Cumberland County recycling coordinator Justin Miller said "I can't tell you the number of calls we get all the time. Largely driven by televisions. Televisions are the most challenging of the electronics."

Until it hired a contractor to do the job, the York County Solid Waste Management authority found recycling used electronics doesn't come cheap.

York County Solid Waste Authority Manager Ellen O'Connor said "had we not been able to do that, we would have been spending out of pocket, close to one million dollars this year for those expenses. What we're paying ECOvanta right now is around $8,500 a month."

A recent state law that made it illegal to dispose electronics in the trash, was supposed to make recycling better for the environment, but officials in many counties found it to do the opposite.

"Act 108 bans haulers from picking up certain electronic devices at the curb. It also bans disposal of certain electronics at any waste disposal facility in Pennsylvania," O'Connor said.

"People are finding their own disposal outlets which can be in the woods, along roads and streams, and then it's truly exposed to the environment," Miller said.

It's why Cumberland County plans to do some recycling of its own and re-purpose a county barn into a more suitable place for recycled electronics.

"Pennsylvania has a law that says manufacturers are supposed to fund electronics recycling. It's not working out very well. So what we're seeing is recyclers abandon that program and essentially go out on their own and charge fees," Miller said.

"I think it's a necessity, than 'oh let's do this.' I think counties and communities that are stepping up and saying we need to comply with the law. We need to find a way to do that. We need to be able to serve the needs of our residents," O'Connor said.

Officials said the center will charge 50 cents per pound, per item.

They propose to have the recycling center open two days a week, by late spring or early summer once commissioners approve the plan.

Adams County
There is no e-cycling program in Adams County. Residents who need to recycle electronics may take it to the Washington Township transfer station located in Franklin County.

Dauphin County
Dauphin County offers an e-cycling program for residents only.

Franklin County
According to the county's website, "Franklin County does not sponsor an organized countywide recycling system. Ongoing budgetary constraints limit the county's ability to support ancillary services."

"Currently recycling is made available through a combination of curbside and drop-off collection programs. The programs that do exist operate in 20 of the 22 municipalities."

Lancaster County
LCSWMA offers Lancaster County residents free drop-off services for household hazardous waste (HHW), including e-waste, at a drive-through hhw facility on Harrisburg Pike in Lancaster.

The HHW Facility is open 5.5 days each week, and again, is free for Lancaster County residents only. E-waste accepted at the facility includes desktop computers, laptops, printers, keyboards, speakers, televisions, and mobile devices.

York County
York County offers an electronics recycling program Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Homeboy Industries Acquires Isidore Electronics Recycling

Nonprofit Homeboy Industries has acquired Los Angeles-based Isidore Electronics Recycling, which is now dubbed Homeboy Recycling Powered by Isidore. The deal closed in November and was financed entirely by donations.

Isidore Electronics Recycling will be staffed by former inmates going through Homeboy's 18-month training program, which includes counseling, tattoo removal and other services.

Los Angeles Times has more information:

Homeboy Industries is already a salsa maker, cake baker and cafe operator. Now the Los Angeles institution, which helps the formerly incarcerated find jobs, is adding a new label to its expanding empire: recycler.

The nonprofit announced Monday that it had acquired Isidore Electronics Recycling, a downtown Los Angeles company that collects, sorts, shreds and resells gadgets including laptops and phones. The recycling center will be rebranded Homeboy Recycling Powered by Isidore (named after Saint St. Isidore, the ancient Spanish scholar considered the patron saint of computers and the Internet).

Olympic Medals for Tokyo Games Will Be Made from Recycled Electronics

Recycled electronics will go for the gold, as organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have announced their plan to source the gold, silver and bronze needed for the games' medals from discarded smartphones.

Tokyo 2020 organizers announced this month that all of the Olympic medals will be made from recycled materials. The agenda for Tokyo 2020, which is described as a "strategic roadmap" for the event, specifically calls for the inclusion of sustainability in every aspect of the games. Organizers said they are also working to engage the Japanese population in the event. As such, the committee has invited the public to participate, asking citizens to donate their discarded or obsolete electronic devices.

The project's goal is to collect about 8 tons [7.25 metric tons] of metal, which will be recycled down to about 2 tons [1.8 metric tons] - enough to produce 5,000 medals for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to the committee. [Top 10 Craziest Environmental Ideas]

"The life stories of so many are defined by the pursuit of these metal medallions, and those same stories are what inspire and bring millions of us together," Ashton Eaton, a U.S. decathlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist, said in a statement. "And now, thanks to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Medal Project, not only do the athletes inspire with their stories, but each medal itself has a story of its own."

Eaton said each citizen that donates is contributing to that story as well, which also helps raise awareness about sustainability and environmental issues.

Beginning in April, people in Japan will be able to find collection boxes in more than 2,400 NTT DOCOMO stores (the mobile phone company has partnered with Tokyo 2020), as well as in public offices across Japan. The collection of the recycled consumer electronics will end when the committee meets its 8-ton target.