Marginal decision making in electronic waste

Yesterday's blog marginal thinking and waste referred to the lost opportunity in e-waste, with billions of dollars worth of precious metals going to landfill each year. That seems a bit flippant on reflection, and I'd like to explore a bit more on the cascading decisions that bring this to pass.

The first decision maker is the consumer who has a dead piece of electronics. There is simply not enough precious metal in the unit for it to be financially worthwhile to recycle themselves, through e-scrap is certainly valuable. They can decide to throw it in their bin, take it to the nearby waste facility, or take it to an e-waste recycler.