Green Recycling

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Education

Nature's "Where I Work" feature is about University of Bologna PhD student Gianluca Torta whose research is on "how to recycle metals from industrial and municipal waste--anything from cars to computers."

Torta tells us that he "was the kind of child who liked to explore chemistry, not take motors apart. Now I do both. ... Pure chemistry was too abstract for me; I wanted something I could apply to real life." He has taken on a complex and important challenge.

Rare earth metals (REEs) are mentioned and you've probably heard of them. What they are and why they are important to an industrial economy is explained here.

I think you will like his chemistry themed Tee Shirt. 

This is a short story and as always an interesting read.