It’s a wonder how we managed to stay in touch before mobile phones. Now just about everybody has one, and usually at least another one or two old ones stashed in a drawer somewhere. It is estimated that there are 14.3 million unused handsets being stored in homes or at work (Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association 2008), and with most people buying new phones every 12-24 months this number is set to increase.
The content of mobile phones varies between models, but they contain plastic and heavy metals including cadmium, lead, nickel, mercury, manganese, lithium, zinc, arsenic, antimony, beryllium and copper. Some of the contents, particularly cadmium, lead, mercury and brominated plastics can harm the environment if not handled properly.
Over 90% of the content of a mobile phone can be recovered to make new products according to Mobile Muster. The mobile phones are dismantled and the parts of the phone can be used to help repair other mobile phones, or they are recycled. The metals from mobile phones are extracted and can be ending up in copper roofs, copper piping, ski bindings and jewellery. Nickel obtained from batteries can end up being used to make stainless steel products such as saucepans. Plastic materials are shredded and used as construction materials, for building roads or to make other plastic products such as traffic cones.
There are now plenty of opportunities to recycle or reuse old mobile phones through Mobile Muster – Australia’s mobile phone industry’s official recycling program. Drop offs can be found in phone shops and through mobile muster facilities dotted all over the place. It is easy to set up additional permanent collection sites in schools or businesses or to organise a muster. So dig out those old mobile phones and get them reincarnated.
