E-waste and mobile phones
Your wireless provider makes it enticing and easy to upgrade your cell phone. But what is the environmental cost?
130 million cell phones are discarded each year in the United States - representing 65,000 tons of toxic waste. Only 2 percent are recycled.
A 2004 EPA-commissioned report recommended that cell phones be classified as hazardous waste because of the lead they contain. Cell phones also contain toxics such as cadmium, arsenic and mercury. If thrown in the trash and sent to incinerators or landfills, environmental contamination can occur from combustion or when toxins leach into the soil and groundwater.
Wireless service providers have been slow to promote responsible recycling with their customers. After the Recycle My Phone Campaign launched by EarthWorks in 2006, Cingular increased their program's website visibility and T-Mobile is more proactively promoting their program by distributing postage-paid mail-in bags at their retail stores. However, improper disposal of phones continues to be a serious problem.
The next time you upgrade your mobile phone, ask your wireless provider about recycling the old one. If you have an old phone in your desk drawer, you can get assistance in recycling it at recycle-my-cell-phone.org.