Redundant meters offer harvest of precious metal

It might not look like a goldmine under your stairs, but meters tucked out of sight are expected to yield a haul of precious metals worth £10 million for Britain’s utility companies, which are about to begin replacing them with smart meters.
Installation of the new generation of electricity and gas meters will cost £9 billion, but rising commodity prices have potentially created millions in profits from the recycling of the old models.

According to Mark Wolle, whose company EEE specialises in the recycling of electronic waste, 100,000 British electricity meters could collectively contain one kilo of gold. With prices close to record highs of $1,200 an ounce, a kilo of gold is now worth £23,000.

The same number of meters would also contain about five kilos of silver, valued at an estimated $936 (£598), and 1½ tonnes of copper, worth $10,000, he said.

The energy companies will replace 26 million electricity meters and 21 million gas meters.

Paul Golby, chief executive of E.ON UK, said: “We can’t just dump them in a hole in the ground, so this is going to be a massive recycling exercise.” He said that the company was considering whether to build a processing plant to handle all the old meters during the ten-year roll-out.

Mr Wolle said that the energy companies were compelled to recycle the meters under European law.

Consumers considering depriving their energy company of their treasure should beware. The meters are hazardous and each contains only minute quantities worth a few pence. A spokesman for Greenpeace said that the meters could contain toxic materials.

National Grid said that 85 per cent of the average British gas meter could be recycled, mostly for steel. The company was studying the possibility of plastic recycling.

Source: The Times