Why Does Mobile Phone Recycling Matter So Much?

When you choose to get your mobile recycled, you choose to contribute to a greener and breathable tomorrow.

According to a projection from United Nations University, just in 2018, 49.9 million tonnes of e-waste wasproduced globally. In smartphone’s terms, it is equal to 9023 phones that are trashed every second in a year.

While e-waste is not only about small electronics such as mobile phones, our regularly upgraded phones do add up, fueling the year-on-year surge of this quickly growing ocean of waste.However, there are many recycling companies like Rapid Phone Buyer that are ethically doing every possible bit to reuse the growing e-waste.

To serve our aspirations, over 1.4 billion mobile devices get manufactured every year with the latest features and technologies. Researchers at Plymouth University predict, it takes 10-15 kgs. of ore, which includes 7kgs. of high-grade gold ore, 1kg. of standard copper ore, 750gms. of tungsten ore and 200gms. of nickel ore to make one phone.

To fulfil the demand raw materials for the humongous volume of phones manufactured each year, tonnes of ore have to be mined.The data suggests, it needsabout 21 million tonnes of ore to produce four billion phones in a year which approximately equates to creating 1,532 Big Bensevery single year.

The Environmental Cost:

The aftereffects of mining are fatal and long-term on the environmental ecosystem.It destroys the natural habitat, adulterates the water and soil while exposing the locals and workers to live and stay in danger. 

The mines get cruelly treated and become deeper, wider, and hollow with decreasing ore levels. This makes the working conditions more hazardous escalating the labour costs, and eventually contribute to the ever-rising prices of our mobile phones.

It’s high time to reduce our consumption and direct the leftovers to recycle. Every drop counts and therefore every phone recycled is one less to be manufactured. When a phone is used for an extra year, itshrinks the stress on Earth’s finite resources. Each refurbished phone has the potential of going through a second, third, or fourth life before it hits its true end-of-life.When you think that let’s sell my mobile, please know that it is a noble thought both for the pocket and the environment.

Every moment electronic waste with its rapid flood of devices is worsening the eco-balance. However, if dealtwith a long-term sustainable vision, it could also serve as a blessing in disguise to recover and reuse the planet’s rare and diminishing resources. When it’s time for a new mobile, and you’re thinking to slide the old one to a cupboard, think thrice. This ignorant action adds toenvironmental stress.

Whenyour smartphone reaches its end of life, some of its componentsstill carry a decent value. Throwing it away or leaving it in a drawer would be adding to the carbon index and a waste of valuables resources that could be have been reused. One million unused phones could serve for 15kgs. of palladium, 34kgs. of gold, 350kgs. of silver and 16 tonnes of copper.It is imperative to note that there’sdoesn’t exist any natural ore that has such a combination and concentration of minerals.

Recycling 100 million smartphones save 2 KW of energyadequate to power 25,000 homes for a year!We should be concerned about such a massive energy source and must do our bit to leverage it to its fullest? When we think of selling old phones, we contribute to this gesture.

These materials that are good for manufacturing are also toxic to humans, animals, and nature. When such materials go to landfills, they cause serious and irreversible health threats. Say, for example, mercury is well known to cause cancer while affecting cognitive functions in humans. It is deadly for animals too, causing severe sensory impairments, memory loss, and muscle weakness.

In Europe, mobile recycling falls under the WEEE purview, however there is no such directive in the United States presently. The Basel Convention supported by many mobile phone manufacturers that outlines environmental end-of-life management for phones.

Making a change:

It doesn’t take massive efforts to recycle your phone once you’re done with it, especially in a market filled with dealers and merchants who deal in used phones. There are many recycling companies like Rapid Phone Buyer that will trade your phone for cash and keep it away from contributing to landfills. 

The mobile manufacturers are always looking out for innovative and faster ways to recover maximum material from the devices and then reuse them to make new ones. Ourjob is to ensure that our unused and ignorantly lying handsets in the cupboards reach such people.