An estimated 450,000 green jobs could be created across the UK by repairing and reusing personal electronic devices and recycling consumer items, London-based think tank Green Alliance said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th August, 2021) An estimated 450,000 green jobs could be created across the UK by repairing and reusing personal electronic devices and recycling consumer items, London-based think tank Green Alliance said on Wednesday.
"[W]e estimate that the government could help to create over 450,000 jobs in the circular economy by 2035. An ambitious approach to reuse, repair and remanufacturing would also lead to jobs being created more evenly across the regions of the UK," the think tank said in a report.
Many high-priced electronic items in use in the UK are being discarded, exported, or broken down for recycling, without infrastructure from the government to prolong their use or reclaim them, the NGO continued.
Precious metals in discarded computers, cellphones, tablets, and other electronic trash have a potential worth of over $62.5 billion per year, including gold, silver, copper, platinum, and other essential raw minerals like tungsten and indium, according to the think thank.
Green Alliance pressed the government to do more to promote a "circular economy," in which the value of resources would be preserved by encouraging people to repair and reuse their electronic belongings, with recycling as a last resort.
The current circular economy's growth rate could only provide 40,000 new jobs by 2035, the think tank estimates. Prioritizing repair of consumer devices could create 450,000 skilled jobs within the same period, it believes.
