Mobile Phone Recycling

It seems that almost everyone has a mobile phone these days, particularly as they have now become an integral part of life in modern society. Most mobile phone providers' also offer upgrades on an annual basis meaning that the number of phones in circulation is increasing dramatically. Current figures put the number of phones in circulation at around 90 million in the UK alone with 18 million new phones being bought every year. A phone may change hands a number of times before it reaches the end of its life but when it does, what happens to it?

Nowadays, it is no longer legal to deposit mobile phones in landfill so you cannot just throw it out along with your household waste. Mobile phones have toxic components, for example, in the LCD display and the battery and can contain some gold, silver, cadmium and mercury. If these leak out of landfill sites they can contaminate the surrounding land and waterways. Under recent European legislation (WEEE), producers now have a responsibility to dispose of mobile phones in an environmentally friendly way. Consequently, most mobile phone providers have now signed up with Fonebak, a company that have taken on the task of disposing of mobile phones either by recycling them or sending them out for reuse in accordance with the WEEE directive. According to Fonebak, a whopping 77% of the population have a mobile phone and many people own more than one.

Fonebak have effectively provided a solution for mobile phone operators to dispose of their phones safely so you can always return your mobile phone to your network provider. However, the effectiveness of this depends on how many people actually bother to return their old phones. Unfortunately, there are still mobile phones being thrown out along with household rubbish and ironically, most of the phones that are supposedly disposed of are still in good working order and as such can be invaluable for developing countries where buying a new mobile phone is still too costly. So what other options are there for disposing of your old, unwanted or broken mobile phones?

Donating your phone to Oxfam

You can deposit your old phone at any Oxfam shop or simply post your phone in a Jiffy bag. If you have a lot of phones to donate, they will collect them free of charge. You can find out more about donating your phone to Oxfam along with details of where to send them on the Oxfam website at http://www.oxfam.org.

According to Oxfam, each mobile phone is worth around £5 to them. They maintain that they've been able to raise more than £300,000 just by recycling mobile phones and in doing so, have stopped 22,500 kg of waste being deposited in landfill. When they receive your mobile phone they sell it on to their recycling partner who will either dismantle or recycle the parts, or if they are in working order, will sell them on to be used in different countries around the world.

Donate your phone to ActionAid

ActionAid collect all brands of mobile phones but they cannot accept chargers. All you have to do to donate your mobile phone is send it to them in one of their freepost bags which you can get by contacting them via their website at http://www.actionaidrecycling.org.uk if you are in the UK or you can find more information from http://www.actionaid.org if you are outside the UK. Again, if you have more than 20 or so phones to donate, they will send a courier to collect them free of charge.

Once a phone is received by ActionAid they will either sell it on via one of their outlets or their eBay shop for reuse if it is in working order, or will sell or recycle the components to another company if it isn't.

Recycle your phone with Freecycle

Freecycle works on the principle that one man's trash is another man's treasure and of course this is certainly true where mobile phones are concerned. Freecycle is a global network of individual groups run by local volunteers that allows people to post details of what they are offering and also what they are looking for. Basically if you have unwanted goods, like your old mobile phone for example, that could be used by someone else, it allows you to find a home for it. Similarly, if you are looking for something in particular, you may find that it is being offered on Freecycle or you can post a wanted message. You can find more information about this option at http://www.freecycle.org.

Conclusion

There is absolutely no need for anyone to deposit their mobile phone in the bin given the number of options now available to dispose of them in a way that is beneficial for the environment and for other people. If you cannot sell or donate your old phone to friends and family then simply check out what avenues there are for mobile phone disposal in your local area or contact one of the organisations listed above.

Dave McEvoy is an expert in skips and skip hire. Read his 'National Skip Hire Guide' for more useful information and waste disposal advice.

A National Recycling Standard

I recycle, at least, I try to. Lifelong dedication to the environment, and I still wonder whether that envelope I'm holding is accepted in our paper recycling program. Are the plastic windowed ones allowed? If so, does the window have to be under a certain size? What about shiny paper? Usually it is excluded, however, junk mail is specifically mentioned as accepted. Of course, that doesn't cover the plastics. Bypassing the issue of the numbers, a separate discussion altogether, take the example of plastic shopping bags. These items must be deposited elsewhere for recycling (the thin bags get trapped in the machinery and clog it), even though they are tagged with otherwise-included numbers. Did I mention that if otherwise excluded items wind up in the recycling pile, the entire batch is considered contaminated and subsequently thrown away? No pressure. Move to another city and the accepted items are likely completely different. With such a convoluted system, what hope does the average person trying to do their part have?

Recent news reports claim that the incoming Obama administration will be appointing former EPA administrator Carol Browner as energy "czar" to "coordinate energy issues across the federal government" . An entirely new position in the United States, surely her responsibilities will solidify as she grows into her role. Coordination is a wonderful idea; by keeping a unified focus in all federal activities, real progress can be made in energy policy. Energy, however, is not nearly as closed a field as implied. To make substantive impact on the global environment, they will need to focus on all aspects of energy use, and guarantee that we are using our energy efficiently and intelligently.

This is where the stories converge.

Recycling, at its very core, is intended to reduce the need to expend resources in making something new when an already-produced equivalent exists. If one were to ask a person why they might use recycled paper, a logical answer may include the following: "So we don't have to cut down more trees". The same goes for bottled water or a can of soda - why go through the effort of producing more virgin plastic when a recycled bottle already sequestered the necessary energy? In essence, recycling is the act of being more intelligent with our energy (and resource) use.

Suddenly, recycling sounds like a topic upon which the administration will wish to focus, but how to do so? Waste services are privately owned enterprises operating independently or on contract with municipalities, not the federal government. It is doubtful they would be open to nationalization, nor is that necessarily a good idea, but what about some standards? Is there anything else the federal government has a hand in regulating by allowing its operation by the private sector? Bingo, organic foods. Currently, the USDA provides standards for independent certifying bodies to inspect operations for compliance. If approved, they are permitted to use the USDA Organic seal on their product, providing standardization and ease-of-use for consumers.

I propose a similar system for recycling. Instead of the current labyrinth of policies, simply have a universally-recognizable logo printed on all products meeting the federal government's recycling standard. The EPA (presumably the lead agency on the issue) will then go about assisting and approving existing waste disposal/recycling companies. Upon certification, they will be capable of processing a given criteria of materials, for example, plastics coded 1-6, clear and green glass, aluminum, and specific forms of paper, for all of their existing customers. The difference now is that on the disposal end, we do away with the traditional recycling logo and affiliated marks, and replace them with a custom EPA Recycle logo, in the same vein as the USDA Organic logo. For citizens living/working within a service area of an EPA-approved waste disposal company, they can rest assured that if they place an EPA Recycle labelled product in their recycle bin, it will be properly recycled. Market forces will push waste operators to achieve the EPA distinction to accommodate the demands of their clientele, as well as product manufacturers adopting its use on appropriate products.

Such a system eliminates the consideration of plastic code numbers (many people don't even know they exist), cardboard versus paperboard recycling, or any number of other issues that can and do arise daily. Reference the success of the USDA Organic seal. Average citizens regularly seek out organic options, a change partially brought about simply by the addition of a standardized logo.

We have a golden opportunity ahead of us as we welcome a new administration strongly committed to the environment. A national recycling standard will help bridge the gap between the U.S. and Switzerland, the global leader, standing at 76% . As of 2007, the United States had a recycling rate of approximately 33%, a value needlessly diminished by confusion, contamination, and general ignorance of the current situation . Americans want to recycle, but when presented with a hodgepodge of policies nationwide, it can make even the most green of people simply throw it away.

Joseph Winn is the President/CEO GreenProfit Solutions, Inc., an environmental consulting and benefits firm specializing in assisting small and medium size companies in Going Green. You may contact Joseph at:

jwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com

http://www.greenprofitsolutions.com