the dawn of the industry. For production chief Detlef Maser the vintage models are merely

a source of raw materials. 'A phone like this is made of 10 to 15 percent

copper but if you take a look at the contacts, you can see there is gold, too. A ton of phones

contains up to 300 g of gold plus 2 to 2 ½ kg of silver. That's what interests us. If

you break it down into the precious metals and other valuable parts, it's worth some

9,000 to 10,000 Euros.' The company recycles all sorts of electronics

including computers, TVs and mobile phones, for their lucrative components.

'It's our source of metal. We don't have mines or mineral deposits. For us it's urban mining.

We extract the metals needed for our economy, for our industry and make them reavailable

for production processes.' The problem is that very few consumers know

how valuable their used cell phones actually are. A number of companies have now sprung

up, offering people cash for their old cell phones. This rong buys up to 8,000 units a

month. In some cases the phones are just months old. The company's dealings with customers

take place entirely on the internet. Customers get an estimate for their phone online. A

relatively new smartphone is worth between 200 and 300 Euros. If the device still works

the data is wiped and the device is refurbished and sold to a new owner.

Consumer transactions on our website takes two to three minutes. All you need to do is

package the phone and mail it free of charge. We transfer the money within seven days, and

it's a far more dependable option than the online auction sites where you never know

what's going to happen. The average household in Germany has two or

three old phones gathering dust. The financial incentive means more of them are now finding

their way back into circulation. And if they can't be used anymore for their

original purpose they're likely to end up at Aurubis, the only company in Germany that

melts down shredded phones to produce raw copper. Copper has never been so much in demand

on the world markets, or so expensive. And that demand would be difficult if not impossible

to meet without recycling electronic scrap. Aurubis processes around a million tons of

copper every year. That's an anode with a copper content of around

98 %. There's also all the base metals like nickel and lead, plus the precious metals

gold, silver and palladium. We then extract and refine pure copper via electrolysis.

Electrolysis is the final step in the recycling process. The metal is placed in a bath of

sulfuric acid, and a powerful electric current is passed through it. The result: sheets of

copper with a purity of 99.9 %.