Geo - Mapping opportunities for detecting different type of waste and transformation into eco-business solutions

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is currently considered to be one of the fastest growing waste streams in the EU. The recycling of WEEE offers substantial opportunities in terms of making secondary raw materials such as refractory metals available on the market. This paper aims for identifying of the applications and corresponding end-of-life waste products (urban mine) containing refractory metals, estimating the quantities and form of refractory metals in the end-of-life products, as well as for identification of the existing collection infrastructures and the economic incentives for delivery of waste products to legal operators. The objective of urban mining is the safeguarding of the environment and the promotion of resource conservation through reuse, recycling, and recovery of secondary resources from waste. Urban mining maximizes the resource and economic value of the waste streams generated in urban spaces and will be a significant concept in the planning and designing of sustainable cities, making the process consistent with the sustainable development goals