The Pint of Science Festival is running a free talk on the 17th of May about recycling metals from waste as a way to reduce the impact of mining on habitat destruction and soil contamination. The session will also cover how competition for resources drives conflict and social inequality.
Extracting valuable metals from waste material is a less energy intensive way compared to a conventional mining process. This allows metals to be produced with a reduced carbon footprint. The re-use of these from a waste flow may also see a reduction in their mining which will in turn reduce the impact of mining on habitat destruction and soil contamination.
All the details are here:
https://pintofscience.co.uk/event/the-earths-resources-and-us