The
global environmental watchdog, Greenpeace, recently took aim at smartphones in
general, in response to a recall of over 4 million Samsung smartphones. In
essence, they exposed, not just the company, but the industry in general, for
their wasteful approach to manufacturing.
However,
Greenpeace also published a report to show how smartphones are negatively
impacting the environment. The energy required to manufacture them, the energy
they use to operate them, and their wasteful and potentially toxic presence in
landfills.
For
this article, we will briefly examine the process of recycling e-waste, the
environmental footprint made by smartphones, and the benefits of recycling
them.
When
devices are set for recycling, the disassemblers have two objectives:
- Extract the recyclable materials, like
iron, copper, and even platinum as well as gold from the circuit boards. - Perform each task without damaging
areas that could leak toxic substances. For example, the backlights in laptop
monitors contain mercury. If damaged, the device and the disassembler can be
exposed to it.
Metals
like iron and copper are melted down in one area, while the gold and platinum
inside the circuit boards are recovered in another area.
Researchers have stated very directly that
smartphones and the data centers that transmit data will lead the tech industry
with the largest carbon footprint by the year 2040.
One reason for this is the amount of energy it takes to produce
them. For example, the motherboard and the chip contain precious metals. These
metals cost a great deal to mine, contributing more to the cost to produce the
overall product. With the fleeting shelf life of these two components, the
waste factor is high.
Then there is the operation of the smartphone, although not
directly from the consumer. It happens to be in the networks and the data
centers. Most of these places are powered by electricity, and by no means is
this electricity green. Fossil fuels still generate it.
Now add to this the fact that so many of these devices end up in
landfills. Some of them have smaller amounts of recyclable materials, so
e-waste recyclables refuse them for their lack of value. For that reason, they
are most often discarded.
Their presence in landfills also opens the door for toxic
substances, such as cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury, to be released into
water sources or the air.
All of this evidence leads experts to the conclusion that the
smartphone industry will be half of where the transportation industry will be
in just over two decades.
After reviewing the smartphone industry’s
environmental footprint, the benefits are quite apparent. With only 10% of cell
phones being recycled, the room for improvement is colossal.
However, they go beyond just saving the
environment. They may actually introduce a new kind of mining that could save
companies and consumers loads of money.
So here are the obvious benefits of
recycling smartphones:
- The energy saved to power your
laptop for more than 40 hours can come from recycling one single phone. - The energy saved by recycling
one million cell phones would power 150 homes for one year - Nearly 20,000 homes could be
powered for one year if 130 million cell phones – the amount that Americans
discard every year – were recycled.
Here is one benefit, though, that is not so obvious –
precious metals, that cost a fortune to mine, can be recovered from these
devices.
Take gold, for example. If one million phones
were recycled, about 75 pounds of gold could be recovered. That is a grand
total of over 1.3 million dollars’ worth of gold at current prices (Sep 2018).
From the same number of phones the
following metals can also be recovered:
- 772 pounds of silver
- 33 pounds of palladium
- 35,000 pounds of copper
- amounts of zinc, tin and
platinum
Recycling them keeps them out of landfills,
out of the water sources – out of the environment.
Another overlooked item is magnets. The
speakers in cell phones have magnets just like regular speakers. These can be
reused.
The life of a cell phone is about the same
length as a cell phone contract. When a user’s contract is up, they no longer
wish to own the phone, and go shopping for the latest model, committing to a
new contract, and the cycle continues.
However, if you feel you have to move to
the next model, instead of tossing the old one in the trash, why not sell it?
If you cannot sell it, then donate it or recycle it.
When you take in the recycling process;
when you realize how badly that smartphones are impacting the environment; when
you consider the massive benefits of recycling and how easy it is for you to
contribute to slowing the process down or maybe reversing it – why turn down an
opportunity to be a part of the solution?
Take time to reflect on this. The problem
is even more serious than was originally anticipated. Everyone can make a
difference. Let it begin with you.
Plunc.com is one of the United Kingdom’s most trusted recyclers for high tech products. Everything from iPhones to games consoles. www.plunc.com
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