BlueOak Resources

BlueOak provides a distributed and domestic solution for e-waste recycling. We enable circular integration in the technology supply chain, collecting and converting the e-waste of today into a sustainable source of metals and rare earths for the technologies of tomorrow.

Today’s technology revolution is changing the way we interact with our world forever. In its wake, a mammoth trail of c.50m tons of electronic waste (“e-waste”) is produced every year. This is the fastest growing waste stream in the world.

In the U.S., consumers alone dispose of some 3.2 million tons of e-waste annually; more than 80% ends up in the trash, contributing >70% of all toxic metals in U.S. landfills.Globally, it is estimated that only 13% of e-waste undergoes some form of recycling; an overwhelming proportion of e-waste is dumped in the developing world. Guiyu, China, the international capital of e-waste, receives about 4,000 tons per hour. Due to the toxicity of e-waste and informal recycling methods, over 88% of Guiyu’s population suffer from severe neurological or physiological disorders.

The dumping of e-waste represents not only an environmental disaster, but also the loss of millions of tons of valuable resources. We currently spend upwards of $12Bn per year searching for virgin ore deposits, while the most concentrated sources of coveted metals is literally put to waste. For example, every 20 minutes the US discards one ton of cell phones containing over 70 times the amount of gold and silver found in virgin ore. Annually, the amount of copper contained in e-waste is equivalent to a third of global mine production.

E-waste is also a large and untapped source of rare earths and other critical metals used in alternative energy technologies such as wind turbines, hybrid vehicles and fuel cells. According to one recent article, “the use of rare earths in electronic gadgets has risen so much that their concentration in computers is actually higher than that in mines.” At present, however, less than 1% of rare earths contained in discarded products are recovered by recycling.

At BlueOak, we believe in the philosophy of resource and capital efficiency. We are building distributed mini-refineries that use proven, capital-efficient refining processes towards extracting precious metals and rare earth elements from e-waste. Our vision is to revolutionize how we treat end of life electronics: converting the e-waste of today into a sustainable source of critical metals and rare earths for the technologies of tomorrow.