Conserves natural resources: Recycling recovers valuable materials from old electronics that can be used to make new products. As a result, we save energy, reduce pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save natural resources by extracting fewer raw materials from the earth.
Protects Environment: E-waste recycling provides proper handling and management of toxic chemical substances like mercury, lead and cadmium contained in the e-waste stream.
Creates Jobs: E-waste recycling creates new jobs for professional recyclers and creates a second market for the recycled materials.
Saves Landfills: E-waste recycling saves unnecessary dumps and landfills.
GCL Recycling & Refining contributes to Turkish economy by recovering many valuable metals from its recycling operations. Some of these metals are copper, gold, silver and palladium namely.
COPPER: Copper is highly durable, long lasting and can be used in all applications of life. Due to its excellent conductivity property, copper is used extensively in all electronics. Electronic circuit boards contain an average of 20% of copper.
Facts about Copper:
1. The average person will use 700 kgs of copper just to enjoy today's standard of living. (Computers, telephones, automobiles, etc.)
2 Copper is naturally antibacterial. Brass doorknobs, handrails and finger plates are excellent choices for public buildings and will prevent the spread of bacteria.
3. The average home contains 200 kgs of copper that is used for electrical wiring, pipes and appliances. The average car has 50 kgs of copper.
GCL recycles more than 450 tons of copper every year from electronic waste collected.
GOLD: Gold has many uses aside from its traditional monetary and symbolic value. Its used in all electronics due to its high durability, good conductivity, high temperature resistance and resistance to corrosion.
Facts about Gold:
1. Gold is the only metal that is yellow or "golden." Other metals may develop a yellowish color, but only after they have oxidized or reacted with other chemicals.
2. Nearly all of the gold on earth came from meteorites that bombarded the planet over 200 million years after it formed.
3. Gold is extremely ductile. Only 1 gram of gold can be used to cover an area of 1 meter square.
GCL recovers more than 400 kg of gold every year from the electronic waste collected.
SILVER: In addition to its jewelry use, half of the silver is used in electrical and electronics industries in many applications like batteries, mobile phones and computers.
Facts about Silver:
1. Silver is the best electric conductor of the elements. It is used as the standard by which other conductors are measured. On a scale of 0 to 100, silver ranks 100 in terms of electrical conductivity. Copper ranks 97 and gold ranks 76. The lines you see in the rear window of a car consist of silver and are used to defrost ice in the winter.
2. Silver has been known since antiquity. It was one of the first five metals to be discovered. Mankind learned to separate silver from lead back in 3000 BC. Silver objects have been found dating back before 4000 BC. It is believed the element was discovered around 5000 BC.
3. The words for 'silver' and 'money' are the same in fourteen languages.
GCL recovers more than 2,000 kg of silver every year from the electronic waste collected.
PALLADIUM: Palladium is discovered in 1802 and is one of the six platinum group metals. Palladium is used in jewelry, electronics and automative industries.
Facts about Palladium:
1. More than half of the global supply of palladium goes into manufacturing catalytic converters for automobiles and other machines equipped with combustion engines.
2. Deposits of palladium are rare, but are found in South Africa, Canada, and Russia. Much of the world’s demand for palladium is met by recycling of catalytic converters.
3. Palladium is a biologically inactive element, allowing for it to be yet another metal perfect for jewelry due to its relatively low probability to cause an allergic reaction.
GCL recovers more than 500 kg of palladium every year. 60% of this amount is recovered from car catalysts.