Electronics contain critical minerals such as copper, nickel, gold, lithium and cobalt needed to make batteries for electric vehicles and to electrify Michigan’s energy grid. Image: Gabrielle Nelson

The electric energy future could be wasting away in a junk drawer

By Gabrielle Nelson

Lily Wilkin has four old phones tucked away in her closet — and no plans to recycle them. “I keep them for nostalgia,” she said. Wilkin works at Best Buy, the nation’s largest retail collector of electronic waste — from CRT TVs to hard drives to fans. Wilkin said at least two customers drop off electronics for recycling every day at the East Lansing Best Buy. Even though she knows about the e-waste collection program, she’s choosing to keep her old electronics.