Why recycle?

Mobile phones and accessories are made from valuable resources such as precious metals – gold, silver and palladium – base metals, such as copper and steel, and plastics. All of these elements require energy to extract and manufacture. Recycling these materials decreases the metals to be mined, along with the manufacturing and transportation processes, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving natural resources. It also keeps valuable, and often dangerous, materials out of landfills and incinerators.

ecoMobilization estimates:

Recycling just a million mobile phones reduces greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 1,368 cars off the road for a year.

If all of the 100 million cell phones nearing their end of use in the U.S. are recycled, we could save enough energy to power more than 194,000 U.S. households with electricity for a year.

It’s estimated that for every hundred tons of electronics recycled, about 60 metric tons of carbon dioxide remains unreleased, equal to approximately 350,000 gallons of gasoline saved.

What’s in a phone?

Many of the chemicals in cell phones are Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins (PBTs) and could potentially be released in the air and groundwater when burned in incinerators or dumped in landfills, an obvious unnecessary threat to humans and the environment.

  • Cell phone circuit boards contain a number of toxins, including arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc.
  • Brominated flame-retardants are found in the plastic housing, printed wiring board, and cables.
  • Heavy metals such as cobalt, zinc, and copper are found in the lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride batteries.
  • Cell phone circuit boards contain a number of toxins, including arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc.