More than five billion of the estimated 16 billion mobile phones possessed worldwide will likely be discarded or stashed away in 2022, experts said Thursday, calling for more recycling of the often hazardous materials they contain.
Stacked flat on top of each other, that many disused phones
would rise 50,000 kilometres, more than a hundred times higher than the
International Space Station, the WEEE research consortium found.
Despite containing valuable gold, copper, silver, palladium and
other recyclable components, almost all these unwanted devices will be hoarded,
dumped or incinerated, causing significant health and environmental harm.
"Smartphones are one of the electronic products of
highest concern for us," said Pascal Leroy, Director General of the WEEE
Forum, a not-for-profit association representing forty-six producer
responsibility organisations.
"If we don't recycle the rare materials they contain,
we'll have to mine them in countries like China or Congo," Leroy told AFP.
Defunct cellphones are just the tip of the 44.48 million ton
iceberg of global electronic waste generated annually that isn't recycled,
according to the 2020 global e-waste monitor.
Many of the five billion phones withdrawn from circulation
will be hoarded rather than dumped in the trash, according to a survey in six
European countries from June to September 2022.
This happens when households and businesses forget cell
phones in drawers, closets, cupboards or garages rather than bringing them in
for repair or recycling.
Up to five kilos of e-devices per person are currently
hoarded in the average European family, the report found.
According to the new findings, 46 percent of the 8,775
households surveyed considered potential future use as the main reason for
hoarding small electrical and electronic equipment.
Another 15 percent stockpile their gadgets with the
intention to sell them or giving them away, while 13 percent keep them due to
"sentimental value".
Societal challenge
"People tend not to realise that all these seemingly
insignificant items have a lot of value, and together at a global level
represent massive volumes," said Pascal Leroy.
"But e-waste will never be collected voluntarily
because of the high cost. That is why legislation is essential."
This month the EU parliament passed a new law requiring USB
Type-C to be the single charger standard for all new smartphones, tablets and
cameras from late 2024.
The move is expected to generate annual savings of at least
EUR 200 million and cut more than a thousand tonnes of EU electronic waste
every year.
According to Kees Balde, Senior Scientific Specialist at the
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), legislation in
Europe has prompted higher e-waste collection rates in the region compared to
other parts of the world.
"At the European level, 50-55 percent of e-waste is
collected or recycled," Balde told AFP. "In low-income countries, our
estimates plunge to under 5 percent and sometimes even below 1 percent."
At the same time, thousands of tons of e-waste are shipped
from wealthy nations — including members of the European Union — to developing
countries every year, adding to their recycling burden.
At the receiving end, financial means are often lacking for e-waste
to be treated safely: hazardous substances such as mercury and plastic can
contaminate soil, pollute water and enter the food chain, as happened near a
Ghanaian e-waste dumpsite.
Research carried out in the west African nation in 2019 by
the IPEN and Basel Action Network revealed a level of chlorinated dioxins in
hens' eggs laid near the Agbogbloshie dumpsite, near central Accra, 220 times
higher than levels permitted in Europe.
"We have moved mountains in Europe," said WEEE
Forum director Pascal Leroy. "The challenge now is to transfer knowledge
to other parts of the world."
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