Program Highlights
Cell Phone Recycling
March 07, 2007
With cell phones becoming as superfluous as the advertisements that convince you that it is time for the newest model, one has to wonder what the impact is on the natural environment. In 2005 alone, over 15 million Canadians subscribed to a cell phone plan. According to INFORM Inc., cell phones are replaced every 18 months and less than 5% are recycled. This means that, in Canada alone, roughly 14 million cell phones enter the waste stream every 18 months. The sheer number of cell phones in circulation and the rate with which they are being replaced is creating an environmental and humanitarian crisis that few people seem aware of.
The environmental crisis stems from the fact that cell phones contain a large number of hazardous and cancer-causing compounds that pollute our air, soil and water. Air pollution is generated when cell phones are incinerated, while the quality of our soil and drinking water is compromised when cell phones are buried in landfills, as the compounds leach out of the devices when the units are purged. Many of these toxins – including antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc – are persistent toxins, meaning they linger in the environment for long periods of time without breaking down. These persistent and bioaccumulative toxins have been associated with cancer and a wide range of reproductive, neurological, and developmental disorders.
Disturbingly, most of the toxins found in cell phones are also found in our bodies. According to a Toxic Nation study that tested for 68 toxic chemicals in 11 families across Canada, 38 carcinogens, 23 hormone disruptors, 12 respiratory toxins, 38 reproductive/developmental toxins, and 19 neurotoxins were detected. These findings may explain why cancer rates have skyrocketed over the past half century. According to Dr. Samuel Epstein, chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, one in every 2 men get cancer in their lifetimes, and one in every 3 women get cancer in their lifetimes. He goes one step further in saying that “industry is largely responsible for this overwhelming epidemic of cancer.” It is becoming increasingly clear that society’s consumer obsession is creating a waste problem that neither the natural environment nor the human body is able to tolerate. Furthermore, our obsession with the latest techno-gadgets is taking a toll on the lives of humans and one of our closest living relatives – the mountain gorilla.
Since 1996, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, has been engaged in a bloody civil war that has been fueled, in large part, by a dull metallic ore called columbite-tantalite, or colton. This mineral, when refined, is used to create the capacitors found in cell phones and most other portable electronic devices. While colton is legitimately mined in Canada and Australia, 80% of the know reserves are found within the borders of the DRC; and because colton is not regulated under the Global Metals Treaty rebel groups have used profits from the illegal mining of colton to fund their war efforts. It is estimated that 4 to 10 million civilians have been slaughtered since 1996 when the war began, with a great deal of non-human lives lost in the crossfire.
Mining operations in the DRC have pushed deeper and deeper into the jungle, including into the Kahuzi Biega National Park, where the mountain gorilla population has been cut in half over the past few years. Mining operations have resulted in large swaths of forest being removed, reducing the available food for the Gorillas and displacing locals, who in turn hunt these majestic creatures to support themselves by selling “bush meat” to the miners and local rebel groups in the area. The U.N. Environment Program has reported that the number of eastern lowland gorillas, in eight DRC national parks, has declined by 90% in less than a decade. Today only 3,000 remain. Thousands of African elephants have also fallen to supply bush meat to miners and rebels.
Despite recent elections and the relative political stability that has ensued, pressures on the resource rich DRC have only intensified. This is because the DRC is not only rich in coltan but also contains a great abundance of copper, silver, gold, palladium and tin oxide – all of which are used in the production of cell phones and other electronic devices. While the demand for metal is soaring worldwide, there is one in particular which is continuing to fuel unrest in the DRC.
Cassiterite, or tin oxide, has become the environmental choice for circuit board soldering as Western countries move away from the highly toxic lead solders. This shift, however, has led to a cruel irony, as one-third of the world’s cassiterite reserves are found within the DRC. According to the U.K.-based Global Witness, "killing, rape, torture, arbitrary arrests, intimidation, mutilation, and the destruction or pillage of private property" have been used by soldiers "to gain control either over resource-rich areas or over the ability to tax resources."
The West is now so entangled in this mess that even before the handheld revolution, the U.S. was importing more than 70 percent of its tin, nickel, platinum and chromium, and more than 90 percent of its coltan, aluminum ore, niobium and manganese. The EU and Japan are even more dependent on the import of these minerals, as well as silver, zinc, tungsten, gold, vanadium and copper. Milligram by milligram, countless tonnes of precious metals are being extracted from the highly vulnerable DRC. The connections are so complex that even the savviest consumers will have a hard time tracking the origin of the metals that went into the construction their cell phone. The roundabout routes that traders use to move tin, coltan, copper and cobalt out of the DRC makes it nearly impossible for a company to trace their origins. Unlike the clearer history of a “blood diamond”, a boycott of specific metals in a cell phone becomes very difficult. However, this reality need not lead to despair.
The environmental and humanitarian impacts could be curbed if consumers replaced their cell phones less often, and when they did replace their cell phone, they used a reputable cell phone recycling program to recycle it. Cell phone recycling programs, including one set up by the Clean Calgary Association, attempt to prevent cell phones from fouling our soil and water by keeping them out of the landfill. Cell phones still in working condition will be redistributed to individuals in emerging countries where cell phones are the only option in areas where telephone lines are non-existent. Those that are no longer working are recycled, and 17 different metals, including tin, copper, and cobalt are recovered. The unfortunate truth is that a technology to recover coltan has yet to be developed, meaning that the only true way to relieve the people of the DRC from the turmoil of world commodity exchanges and the associated demand is to resist the urge to replace your perfectly working cell phone just because a new model has become available. While prudent cell phone purchases do not guarantee safe and honest jobs for the people of the Congo, it would relieve some of the pressure to extract resources at their current rate.
For more information on the cell phone recycling program at Clean Calgary Association, please visit http://cleancalgary.org/index.php/programs/fundraising/cell_phone_recycling_program or call 230-1443.