As rising gold prices dovetail with concerns over resource shortages, companies' movements are also becoming active. Let us take a look at the companies building attractive "urban mining"—which can aim for environmental sustainability and economic benefit at the same time.
[Obtaining gold from waste resources ©Gettyimagesbank]
With Rising Gold Prices, Interest in Urban Mining Also Surges
As gold prices have recently soared, urban mining is drawing attention. Urban mining is the recycling of valuable resources hidden inside electronic products or waste discarded in cities by digging them out again. For example, old smartphones, computers, and other home appliances hide expensive metals such as gold, silver, and copper. If waste is thrown away, it becomes garbage and leads to resource waste and environmental pollution, but urban mining—extracting resources from waste as if mining ore from a mine—is also an important asset from the environmental side. The reason we must pay attention to urban mining now is the forecast that by 2100 the world's natural-resource reserves will also hit bottom.
Famous Overseas Urban-Mining Companies... Umicore, Li-Cycle, Dowa Holdings
Belgium's "Umicore" is a world-leading company in the urban-mining field. This company recovers precious and rare metals such as gold, cobalt, and lithium from waste electronics and batteries. Based on its own refining technology, it disassembles mobile phones and batteries to extract even the rare metals that other companies miss. With the continued rise in gold prices, more than about 30% of Umicore's revenue has been generated from urban mining in 2025. In the European market, where environmental regulation is strong, Umicore is building its competitiveness with a recycling process that reduces carbon emissions, and it operates in 11 countries worldwide, including Korea.
Let us also pay attention to Canada's "Li-Cycle." This company is especially specialized in waste-battery recycling and, along with rising gold prices, is leading the North American urban-mining market by focusing on recovering metals contained in batteries, such as gold, nickel, and cobalt. LG Chem signed a strategic partnership with this company, and LG Energy Solution even selected Li-Cycle as its battery-recycling partner for North America. As gold prices rise, gold recovery from battery recycling is also becoming a secondary revenue source, and Li-Cycle is broadening its market share by crushing waste batteries with eco-friendly technology and improving the process of extracting metals.
Japan's "Dowa Holdings" cannot be left out either. Japan is where the concept of urban mining began, and Dowa Holdings—together with subsidiaries such as "Dowa Eco-System" and "Dowa Metals & Mining"—holds technology to recover 22 kinds of metals, such as gold, silver, and germanium, from waste electronics. As the economics of recycled gold grew with rising gold prices, Dowa Holdings is investing in raising process efficiency. In particular, it is working to secure raw materials by strengthening its waste-appliance collection network in the Asian market, and its operating profit has more than tripled since the 2020s, fully reaping the effects of rising gold prices.
The Future of Urban Mining, a Sustainable Industry
The European and North American companies leading the urban-mining industry, which is thus in the spotlight, are strengthening their recycled-gold supply chains in tandem with carbon-emission-reduction goals. Asian companies, meanwhile, are broadening the market by leading with their technological capabilities and networks. Experts forecast that the price of gold, a rare resource, will continue to rise for the time being. The things we use every day are, in fact, like small mines. Urban mining is a means of saving resources by making good use of this, and a smart method that also protects the environment instead of traditional mining. Such urban mining is expected to continue growing beyond a mere trend into an essential, sustainable industry.
by Editor N