"Nothing is lost, everything is transformed": Vote for the best Urban Mining video

Until September 13th, the public voting period is open for the "Urban Mining: Nothing is lost, everything is transformed" competition, an initiative by Mendoza's Mining Directorate designed for high school, tertiary, and university students throughout the province.

The proposal invites young people to produce audiovisual content on urban mining and electrical and electronic waste (WEEE), with the goal of promoting responsible management of these materials, strengthening environmental awareness, and bringing the community closer to the principles of the circular economy.

What is "urban mining"?

The concept starts with a simple but little-known idea: the objects we use every day—cell phones, computers, tablets, appliances, batteries—are made with minerals and metals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, gold, silver, and rare earths. When those devices stop working, they are not just waste: they are a secondary source of resources that can return to the production cycle. Recovering those materials from the waste generated by the city itself is precisely "doing urban mining."

With that starting point, the competition seeks for students to reflect—and tell it in video format—about the relationship between daily life, technological consumption, and mining activity, showing that minerals remain "alive" within the production cycle long after we buy a device.

How to vote

The task is simple: enter each Instagram reel and support with a ❤️ the video you like most. The one that gets the most "Likes" wins. These are the three schools competing:

• 🏫 Technical School of the University of Mendoza (ETec) → Watch video

• 🏫 School No. 4-018 "Manuel Nicolás Savio" (ESTIM) → Watch video

• 🏫 School of Agriculture – UNCuyo → Watch video

📅 Voting closes on September 13th, so there is little time left to add support to your chosen school.