BUSINESS CONCEPTS
These are provided as concepts to demonstrate the application of the “Mauri Model”, and as a creative outlet. If you have any ideas you would like to gift to the project please used the Contact Us form or our socials (links at the bottom of the page).
BUSINESS CONCEPT #323 - E-WASTE MINING & RECOVERY
A specialised facility extracting precious metals (gold, copper, lithium) from local electronic waste using bio-leaching (bacteria), keeping toxic materials out of landfills.
This venture establishes a high-tech recovery hub in Te Tai Tokerau that uses biological processes to extract high-value minerals from discarded electronics. We serve local communities and the global tech industry by providing a clean, sovereign source of raw materials while permanently plugging a significant environmental "leaky bucket".
The Problem: Our region currently exports its electronic waste or buries it in landfills, creating a toxic "thermodynamic leak" where mercury, lead, and rare metals poison the whenua. This is "Babylonian" extraction at its worst—losing "embodied energy" and valuable minerals while importing environmental disorder.
The Solution: We are operationalising the "Economic Pā" by treating e-waste as "urban ore". Using bio-leaching—a low-energy process where specific bacteria "eat" and separate metals—we recover gold, copper, and lithium for resale. This is a negentropic process that cleans the land and captures wealth simultaneously.