Every year thousands upon thousands of tons of electronics, from air conditioners to smartphones, are thrown out. This adds up to huge amounts of waste which has to be managed, especially for smaller countries like Korea. Is it possible that electronics waste is actually a resource? Like a mine in the ground, many people are beginning to think of electronics waste as "urban mines" because of the amount of gold, silver, copper, plastic, and steel that is waiting to be used again. To manufacture electronics products, resources such as gold, silver, copper, glass, plastic, and steel must be mined, purchased, or produced. As resources become harder to get, urban mines may become a more economical solution. About one ton of rock must be dug up in a mine to get around five grams of gold; however, one ton of mobile phones may contain around 300 grams of gold, in addition to other recoverable materials.

The potential value of urban mines increases when resources become expensive and waste is not recycled. Although electronics waste may be seen from an economic point of view, there is another side to this story: the environmental issue. Recycling electronics waste can lower ecological damage from traditional mines and decrease air pollution from transporting materials over long distances. Moving forward does not always mean making new things; sometimes looking at an old problem from a new perspective is the simplest solution.