According to a study published by the UN, the world must do more to cope with the rise of electronic waste including mobile phones and computers. A move which is set to see mobile phone manufacturers doing more to encourage mobile phone recycling.
As the growth in demand for phones, computers and other devices increase, consumers want to keep up to date with the latest technologies and trends, therefore regularly selling their old mobile phones in order to upgrade. As a result the amount of e-waste continues to rise creating a problem for people’s health and the environment as the waste, much of it toxic begins to decay.
UN Environmental Programme’s executive director, Achim Steiner, said: “The world is now confronted with a massive wave of electronic waste that is going to come back and hit us, particularly for least-developed countries that may become a dumping ground.”
The UN are urging people to consider mobile phone recycling and considering the benefits to all involved it’s easy to see why.
Customers are encouraged to trade in any used or unwanted mobile phones for a cash incentive. The handsets which are in operating order are re-sold and the devices which no longer work are disposed of in an economically friendly way and then recycled into plastics.
Considering the alternative, dumping mobile phones in landfills in which hazardous materials will be leaked from the batteries to then potentially contaminate water supplies, it’s easy to see why the UN is calling for the world to do more.
