Recycled plastic screens, for example, are used to fill potholes. But don't expect Metech to pick up those digital doorstops gathering dust in your attic. And unless you're comfortable working with 3,000-degree heat and electrolytic extraction of precious metals, don't try melting your old PC for pocket change. Just take comfort in the fact that your body is still worth more than that old 486. By a few bucks.
Investors sure think so.
Most of the nation's malls are concentrated in a few publicly traded real estate investment trusts, aka REITs, and last year an ecommerce-obsessed Wall Street sent the share prices of these companies sliding an average of 13.9 percent. Because malls make their money not only by renting space but also by taking a slice of tenants' sales, in theory online shopping will cut into that revenue, too. And most retailers allow ecommerce returns to local outlets, which could further depress overall shopping mall sales. Fact is, the majority of Americans still love to get into their cars and go shopping. For a few years yet, many will prefer to try on clothing or flip through a few pages of a novel before buying.