discarded electronics

We recently learned that Japan's landfills are full of precious metals that are locked up in discarded electronics, from cell phones to computers. So anytime something comes out of Japan that uses less material, it's a step in the right direction.

In Japan's landfills, there is enough gold, silver and platinum to propel the country into the top tier of resource-producing countries - along with Australia, Brazil and Canada.
The millions of electronics that are discarded each year, including televisions, mobile phones, MP3 players and computers, have created so-called “urban mines.”