Mobile phone recycling

New tech gifts? Here's what to do with your old phones

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The phone can be recycled at the end of its useful life.

Rapid technological change, low initial cost, and even planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast-growing surplus, which contributes to an increase in the amount of electronic waste around the world. Recyclers consider electronic waste as a "booming" problem. In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfills originate from disposed electronics, while electronic waste represents only 2% of American waste in landfills.

Mobile phones "considered hazardous waste" in California; many chemicals on the phone like that are leaking from landfills to groundwater systems. Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace claims that soldering the iPhone battery to the handset obstructs the recycling process. It also states that its scientists discovered toxic phthalates on the iPhone's cable, and stated that this contradicts California's Proposition 65, which requires warning labels on products that expose consumers to phthalates.

Because the US has not ratified the Basel Convention or its Prohibition Amendment, and has no domestic law prohibiting the export of toxic waste, the Basel Action Network estimates that about 80% of the electronically directed waste in the US is not recycled there. altogether, but placed on container ships and shipped to countries like China. Guiyu in the Shantou region of China, and Delhi and Bangalore in India, has an electronic waste processing facility.

Video Mobile phone recycling

Recycle

Humans throw in millions of phones every year to support newer technologies - and all those cell phones thrown out might be detrimental to the environment. Electronic scrap account for 70% of all toxic waste currently found in US landfills. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 141 million cell phones were dumped in 2009 and only 12 million were collected for recycling.

The shelf life of the phone is only about 24 months for the average user. This means that newer phone models are constantly being put on the market to replace older ones. This is the result of rapid technological developments in the cellular industry. According to Matt Ployhar of Intel, the industry is expanding rapidly, perhaps even at "Moore's legal speed or faster." This means that newer, more sophisticated cellular phones in the midst of rising consumerism and older models tend to end up in landfills.

Most cell phones contain precious metals and recyclable plastics to save energy and resources that should be required to mine or produce. When placed in landfills, these materials can pollute the air and contaminate the soil and drinking water. Mobile phone coatings are usually made of lead, which is a toxic chemical that can cause adverse health effects when exposed to high levels. Circuit boards on mobile phones can be made of copper, gold, tin, zinc, beryllium, tantalum, coltan, and other raw materials that will require significant resources to mine and produce. This is why it is important to recycle used phones and scarce resources whenever possible.

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a global problem; especially since many developed countries, including the US, are sending their electronic devices dumped into less developed parts of the world. Often, electronic garbage is dismantled and improperly burned, resulting in toxic emissions that are harmful to workers at the site, children, and surrounding communities. Therefore, it is important for mobile users to dispose and recycle their devices responsibly and ethically.

Maps Mobile phone recycling

Global impact

Today's mobile phones are causing big problems for many countries around the world. Manufacturers and institutions are slowly adapting new programs in an effort to limit the amount of waste that has been increasing over the years.

Australia

Australia currently has a national recycling program established on behalf of MobileMuster. The program originated in 1998 after successful recycling experiments in one of their states. Currently, the main focus is centered around mobile phones, batteries, and other related accessories. They collaborate with over 1,400 retailers, local councils, government agencies, and businesses in their recycling efforts. In 2005, MobileMuster launched a campaign that collects statistics showing 46% of Australians are aware of the option to recycle their mobile devices and accessories. The greatest benefit that emerges from this research is the simple fact that raising public awareness about the recycling program is actually causing a huge spike in the number of recycled devices. In March 2006, awareness increased to 54%. By the end of June, more than 590,000 devices and 1.5 million batteries had been collected by MobileMuster. This amounts to approximately 367 tons of material, which is equivalent to a 16% increase in the number of devices over a one-year span. Today, they place great emphasis on not only recycling phones but reusing them. The reason behind this is that reuse causes a decrease in the amount of resources taken from the environment, thus minimizing the impact.

North America

Revenue for the US mobile phone recycling industry will increase significantly until at least 2019. The increase in mobile ownership and new technology has created a burgeoning replacement market and thus a larger phone base is available for recycling. Approximately 150 million mobile phones are disposed of annually in the United States. Up to 35 000 pounds of copper and 772 pounds of silver can be recovered per 1 million recycled devices. A number of 'gold' and palladium have also been extracted.

A report released in early 2014 found that when it comes to mobile phone recycling programs, cash is one of the biggest incentives for consumers to recycle mobile phones. As more people realize the value of money from their old phones and other small electronics such as tablets, comparison sites that show users the latest purchase prices are gaining in popularity. The first mobile phone to buy comparison sites to launch in North America is SellMyCellPhones.com, launched in 2010.

The first US mobile phone recycling company is ReCellular, established in 1991 when there were only 16 million mobile subscribers worldwide; it's bankrupt in 2013.

src: www.hackhamrecyclers.com.au

Recycled value

The phone has a good value after its intended use. However the value of this phone for recyclers is marginal and depends on high volume to be profitable. The economic value of recycled mobile phones is divided into two categories; reconditioned residential units to end users and unrecorded telephones for retail consumers who are being recycled for their precious metals.

The University of California Santa Barbara published a study in 2010 on the subject called "Economic Cellular Phone Usage and Recycling" stating the value of used cell phones reused and recycled. In 2006, according to research, the average cost for US mobile phone users, ReCellular, PaceButler, and RMS is $ 2.10, while the average revenue of the phones mentioned is $ 17. Of the two recycling methods, significantly more profitable than recycling internal parts.

The study also explains the value of all precious metals in the mobile phone as well as the cost of extracting the metal. The average cost in 2006 was to extract precious metals for US mobile phone recycling companies. ECS Refining is $ 0.18 while the average income of recycled metal is $ 0.75. With the profit margin much smaller than the updated unit, the method of obtaining the economic value of mobile phone recycling is significantly more dependent on volume. The most valuable precious metals in mobile phones are Gold used in microprocessor units. This percentage of the precious metal of the total mass of the phone continues to decline over time. From 1992 to 2006, gold as a percentage of the total mobile mass fell from 0.06% to 0.03%. There is a huge amount of volume in the US market with Americans in 2009 throwing an average of 350,000 phones a day but with a thinning margin, the volume begins to become irrelevant.

Therefore, the economic incentive to recycle precious metals in mobile phones is declining in the United States because manufacturers are looking for more effective ways to produce mobile phones. Mobile phone repairs and resales continue to be the most economical option to recycle this electronic waste form.

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References

Free Mobile Phone Recycling | OfficeXpress

src: www.officexpress.co.uk

Mobile phone recycling

Sabtu, 07 Juli 2018