Mobile phones may be one of our smaller electronic possessions, but it has been suggested that the environmental issues surrounding them are proving to be a sizeable problem. It is estimated that around 940-980 million phones were sold in 2006, and if you consider the rise in such figures since the 1980s, there could be some 5 billion handsets in existence. Dylan Gwynn Jones of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, oversaw some research into the environmental impacts from mobile phones which was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). He commented that "Although the ecological footprint of creating a mobile phone may be small, the cumulative effect is quite significant on a global scale."
As with all electronic equipment, mobile phones contain a range of hazardous substances that are harmful if the devices are not disposed of properly. Heavy metals like mercury, lead and cadmium are present, as well as brominated flame retardants in the printed circuit boards and casings. Such substances can have a devastating impact if they are released into the environment. Problems will begin if the handsets end up at landfill or are dumped illegally. Although mobile phones only make up a small percentage of the e-waste mountain, manufacturers are aware of the need to address the issue. On a European scale, they must comply with the RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC (which has been replaced by Directive 2011/65/EU) and the WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC, which ban the use of certain hazardous substances and require producers to bear the cost of collection, recovery and disposal of e-waste, respectively. However, companies like Nokia have taken on these restrictions, and applied them in their factories around the globe.
While the energy performance of mobile phones has increased dramatically in recent years, their sheer number has led to a further problem - chargers being left plugged into sockets when not in use. This mobile phone issue was the main focus of a recent conference on the UN Basel Convention, designed to regulate international trade in toxic waste.
