article_snippet: Previous research estimated the waste from one million Americans could contain as much as $12 million (£8.7 million) worth of metals.
article_snippet: In 1999 the UK produced over 1,130,000 tonnes of sludge dry solids, which averages to about 20kg generated by each person.
article_snippet: If Britain's waste was mined Britain's waste could be worth $762 million (£510 million) a year.
article_snippet: Yet all end up at the sewage works and many metals end up in the leftover solid waste.
article_snippet: At treatment plants, wastewater goes through a series of physical, biological and chemical processes and the end products are treated water and biosolids.
article_snippet: In the US alone seven million tons are leftover each year with half used as fertiliser on fields and in forests and the other half incinerated or sent to landfills.
article_snippet: If Britain's waste was mined Britain's waste could be worth $762 million (£510 million) a year. 
article_snippet: Previous research estimated Britain's waste from one million Americans could contain as much as $12 million (£8.7 million) worth of metals. '
highlights_snippet: Waste from a million Americans could contain $12 million (£8.7 million)
  Britain's waste is worth an estimated $762 million (£510 million) a year .