Plastic cups turned into bus shelter roofs in Italy Credit: Folke Kobberling/Martin Kaltwasser
Some 100 billion tons of raw material are extracted every year. Roughly half goes into the world’s built environment. Construction creates an estimated third of the world’s overall waste, and at least 40% of the CO2 emissions. One ton of mobile phones may contain 300 times more gold than a ton of the best quality gold ore as well as significant quantities of silver, platinum, palladium and rare earths. A 2020 analysis of five EU countries found shifting to a more circular economy would reduce their carbon emissions by two-thirds while providing over a million new jobs. Reuse of concrete, wood and metals in electronic waste has begun. We need much more of it.
www.bbc.com/future/article/20211215-the-buildings-made-from-rubbish