Around 5.3 billion phones will become a part of e-waste by the end of 2022. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) forum has made the estimate on the basis of global trade data and puts into limelight the growing problem of e-waste . Many of us hold on to our old phones as a prized memory. But when we do that, we are neglecting the fact that the phone has several precious minerals which can be extracted from it if we give it up for recycling.
Items like copper in wire, the cobalt in rechargeable batteries, besides other materials then have to be mined.
“Smartphones are one of the electronic products of highest concern for us. People tend not to realize that all these seemingly insignificant items have a lot of value and together at a global level represent massive volumes,” WEEE director general Pascal Leroy was quoted as saying by the BBC.
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Over 16 billion phones are currently present worldwide, with at least a third no longer in use in Europe.
The WEEE has also highlighted the stark matter of e-waste piling up, and not just from phones. The body says that mobile phones are a tiny part of the 44.48-million-tonne pile of global electronic waste generated annually that isn’t recycled.
Its research shows that washing machines, toasters, tablets, computers and global positioning system (GPS) devices will add 74 million tonnes of e-waste a year by 2030. The report also found that in an average European family, an astonishing five kilograms of e-devices per person are currently hoarded.
“But e-waste will never be collected voluntarily because of the high cost. That is why legislation is essential,” Leroy said.
Magdalena Charytanowicz of WEEE said, “These devices offer many important resources that can be used in the production of new electronic devices or other equipment, such as wind turbines, electric car batteries or solar panels — all crucial for the green, digital transition to low -carbon societies.”
The EU legislation requiring USB-C to be the single charger standard for all new smartphones, tablets and cameras from late 2024 is expected to cut more than a thousand tonnes of EU electronic waste every year. It will also generate an annual savings of at least 200 million euros ($195 million).
(With inputs from agencies)
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