Precious Metals

The first category of waste that we will discuss is recyclable materials that contain precious metals. Some of the precious metals that can be economically worthwhile to reclaim, either singly or in combination, include gold, silver, copper, platinum, palladium, indium, osmium, rhodium, and ruthenium.

The RCRA regulations apply to people who generate, transport, or store recyclable materials that contain precious metals. Exporters or importers of precious metals are subject to the regulations that apply specifically to exporting and importing, which we learned about earlier in this course.

You can recover precious metals from electronics, car parts, and jewelry, to name just a few sources. The precious metals that are recovered from electronics and other sources can be used over again in jewelry, electronics, cars, plating, and so forth. In addition, many industrial devices and manufacturing scraps are also valuable sources of recoverable precious metals. Dental and medical devices are also valuable sources of precious metals.

To learn more about RCRA safety standards visit our RCRA Refresher Online Training web page.