The Life of a Mobile Phone

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A MOBILE PHONE E-WASTE METALS IN PHONE PARTS Silver Copper Barium SUBSECTION 1: LANDFILL WASTE: Platinum ELECTRONIC SCRAP, INCLUDING PHONES, COMPUTERS, ELECTRONIC GADGETS, ACCOUNTS FOR ) 70% Nickel Titanium Gold OF THE OVERALL TOXIC WASTE CURRENTLY FOUND IN LANDFILLS. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF PHONE PARTS ENERGY CONSUMED IN RAW MATERIAL EXTRACTION ENERGY (MJ) PER MOBILE PHONE 59% PWB GOLD PLASTIC 39% LCD PALLADIUM 1% HOUSING SILVER A FE, AI,SN,GLASS,ZN,NI,PB 1% REST all below 1mj COPPER A MOBILE CONSISTS OF: 40 % PLASTICS CERAMICS 20% AND TRACE MATERIALS 40 % METALS MATERIALS EXTRACTION The manufacturing of these Iş the "brain" of the cell phone boards requires crude oil for because it controls all of plastic, and sand and THE CIRCUIT BOARD its functions. limestone for fiberglass. Circuit boards are made Known as "persistent toxins" & can stay in the environment from mined, raw materials including copper, gold, lead, for long periods of time, nickel, zinc, beryllium, tantalum, even after disposal. coltan, and other metals. > THE LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY (LCD) (« > THE RECHARGEABLE BATTERY « Various liquid crystalline substances, Ni-MH and Ni-Cd batteries contain either naturally occurring nickel, cobalt, zinc, cadmium, and copper. (such as mercury, a potentially dangerous substance) or human made, are used to make LCDS. Li-lon batteries use lithium metallic oxide & carbon based materials, all mined from the earth. LCDS ALSO REQUIRE THE USE OF GLASS OR PLASTIC. Raw materials are processed before manufacturers can use them to make products. MATERIALS PROCESSING Crude oil is combined with natural gas and chemicals in a processing plant to make plastic; Copper is mined, ground, heated, and treated with chemicals and electricity to isolate the pure metal used to make circuit boards and batteries. The resulting copper pieces are shipped to a manufacturer where they are formed into wires and sheets. MATERIALS USED: PLASTICS AND FIBERGLASS ARE USED TO MAKE THE BASIC SHAPE OF THE CIRCUIT BOARD MANUFACTURING circuits and wires (primarily made of copper) protective glues and coatings LCDS: LIQUID CRYSTAL BETWEEN LAYERS OF GLASS OR PLASTIC PACKAGING Transportation by plane, truck, or rail all require the use of fossil fuels for energy, which can TRANSPORTATION contribute to global climate change. PACKAGING CONSUMES VALUABLE NATURAL RESOURCES, SUCH AS PAPER (FROM TREES), PLASTIC (FROM CRUDE OIL IN THE EARTH), ALUMINUM (FROM ORE), OR OTHER MATERIALS RECYCLE: MORE THAN 70% DFA END OF LIFE DISPOSAL: IT'S ESTIMATED THAT OVER MOBILE PHONE CAN BE RECYCLED 56 MILLION MOBILE PHONES ENDED UP IN LANDFILL IN 2008! ÖnRecycle http://socialtimes.com/33775 b184692 http://www.gama.com/publicpolicywp-contentiuploads/2012/03/environmobilelfecycles.pat http://www.epa.govlosw/education/pdts/lite-cell.pat (infographic PDF) www.appropedia.org/File.CelPhoneParts png http://sico.org/recycle/TeacherResources/iles/LifeCycleLite%20Cycle%20o%200%20Cell%20Phone.pdf http://www.weeeman.org/htm/whatifecycle.html http://site.ul.com/globalfra pages/corporate/aboutulpublicationsinewslettershightech/volzissue4/1 mobile http://compassintelligence.com/?q-pressicompass-intelligence-consumer-survey-finds-mobile-phone-recycling-programs-continue-gain 1Angle, Jett. 2008, Tipping Point: Australias E-Waste Crises, Total Environment Centre http://www.tec.org.ou/imagesie-waste%20report%20updated pat