Elemental Compositions of Over 80 Cell Phones

Christian, Beverley; Romanov, Alexandre; Romanova, I. P.; Turbini, Laura J.

doi:10.1007/s11664-014-3310-3

Cited by 27 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Satisfying society’s hunger for new technology has led to concerns about energy- and resource-intense product manufacturing 1 , declining product lifespans 2 , and waste management systems that create risks to human and environmental health 3 . A major driver of these environmental risks are the vast and complex array of materials that enable the functionality and appearance that consumers demand, including valuable metals such as gold, silver, and platinum; scarce resources such as cobalt and rare earth elements; hazardous materials including lead and mercury; and difficult-to-recycle materials like polymers containing halogenated flame retardants 4 , 5 .…”

Section: Background and Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Disassembly-based bill of materials data for consumer electronic products

et al. 2020

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Consumer electronic products have a complex life cycle, characterized by environmental, social, and economic impacts and benefits associated with their manufacturing, use, and disposal at endof-life. Accurately analysing these trade-offs and creating sustainable solutions requires data about the materials and components that make up these devices. Such information is rarely disclosed by manufacturers and only exists in the open literature in disparate case study format. this study presents a comprehensive database of bill of material (BOM) data describing the mass of major materials and components contained in 95 unique consumer electronic products. Data are generated by product disassembly and physical characterization and then validated against external benchmarks in the literature. The study also contributes a reproducible framework for organizing BOM data so that they can be expanded as new products enter the market. These data will benefit researchers studying all aspects of electronics and sustainability, including material scarcity, product design, environmental life cycle assessment, electronic waste policy, and environmental health and safety.

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Section: Background and Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Disassembly-based bill of materials data for consumer electronic products

et al. 2020

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“…After recycling, if mobile phones are unable to be refurbished or reused, elements including ‘conflict metals’ can be recovered, thereby potentially decreasing mining in gorilla habitats in DRC. Gold and silver content in a single mobile phone may be as high as US$1.83, but recovery, processing and refining of metals to achieve high levels of purity (>99%) is costly and may be harmful to the environment [22]. Nevertheless, the high value of gold, platinum, silver and palladium is the prime economic incentive for materials recovery from mobile phones [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recycling 115,369 mobile phones for gorilla conservation over a six-year period (2009-2014) at Zoos Victoria: A case study of ‘points of influence’ and mobile phone donations

2018

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More than seven billion mobile phones are estimated to be in service globally, with more than a billion older phones likely to be retired. A major barrier to a sustainable circular economy for mobile phones is people’s hoarding of their retired phones. Old mobile phones may be refurbished for re-use or ultimately dismantled for possible extraction of elements, including ‘conflict’ metals such as coltan (containing elements tantalum and niobium), mined in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and threatening wild populations of eastern Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri). Zoos Victoria cares for western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) who served as ambassadors for their Grauer’s gorilla counterparts in this community-based social marketing initiative. Through tracking of barcodes on satchels of recycled mobile phones, efficiency of ten different points of influence could be calculated for the ‘They’re Calling on You’ mobile phone recycling community campaign at Zoos Victoria in Australia. Over a six-year period (2009–2014), a total of 115,369 mobile phones were donated. The Courier Collect initiative resulted in 50,883 mobile phone donations (44% of total), followed by the Static Display at Melbourne Zoo, resulting in 29,778 mobile phone donations (26% of total). The number of phones collected for Keeper Talks (at Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo) was 12,684 (11% of total), and in terms of fostering close connections between visitors and the conservation campaign, keeper talks were effective as one phone was donated for every four people attending a keeper talk at Werribee Open Range Zoo and one phone was donated for every 28 people who attended a keeper talk at Melbourne Zoo. We provide suggestions for future campaigns, so that accurate data capture can allow cost-benefit analyses to be conducted. Our results demonstrate that a conservation-based organisation, in partnership with corporate sponsors and community groups can effectively influenced people’s mobile phone recycling behavior, paving the way for international collaborations to maximize scale and impact.

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“…Mobile phones are very complex products when it comes to dismantling and recycling, due to the large variety of materials present in them such as plastics, metals, glass, and ceramics (Christian et al, 2014). A typical mobile phone consists of several parts such as display unit, battery, front and back cases and printed circuit boards (PCBs).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%