May: June, can old computer parts be recycled into jewelry?
June: Sure, computers contain valuable metals such as gold, silver and platinum.
June: Gold is used in the circuit boards, connectors and _________.
June: And cobalt and _________ are used in the hard drives.
May: What is neodymium used for? I’ve never heard of that metal before.
June: It’s a ____ metal. It is used to make the hard drive __________,
May: Any other metals in a computer? June: Yes, lots of metals – check out the Wikipedia.
June: The valuable metals can be e-cycled into jewelry or many other things. June: The gold could end up on your tooth if you go to the dentist.
May: Cool. So what is e-waste and what is e-cycling?
June: E-waste is electronic waste.
May: I see. And e-cycling is recycling of electronic waste, right?
June: Right.
May: How do I e-cycle my old _________ computer?
June: Don’t do it yourself. You might hurt yourself. Take it to a specialist e- cycling company.
May: I won’t do it myself. How will they do it?
June: Before you give your old computer to the e-cycling company, be sure to do one thing.
May: What’s that?
June: Erase the old computer’s hard drive. Otherwise you could become a victim of _________ theft.
May: Ok, I’ll do that.
June: Then the company will shred the hard drive.
June: Then it will separate the aluminum from the other metals.
May: How will it do that?
June: With an electromagnet. Then the aluminum gets delivered to an aluminum recycling __________
May: Cool.
June: That’s just the aluminum. Other __________metals get extracted too. June: Watch this video if you want to see the whole process.
May: Thanks.