With National E-waste day taking place only 3 weeks away (October 14th), it’s time to talk about it.

Almost everybody has a mobile phone, right? However, do you know if you are disposing of it correctly, and no, the answer is not leaving it lying around at home and here is why. 

E-waste

According to the Unitar E-waste monitor 2024 there has been 62 million Tonnes of e-waste in 2022 alone. An 82% increase from 2010 this percentile is further expected to increase up to 32% by 2030! 

Let’s begin by talking about what electronic waste is or for short E-waste, it describes how we dispose of our old electronic products ranging from your phone to your fridge. 

This is clearly a problem that is multiplying rapidly. Looking deeper into our mobile phones many people do not know how to dispose of them correctly resulting in enormous amounts of unused mobiles sprawled around many homes. 

The impacts

“If you leave it [mobile phone] in drawers they lose value, if you have, your smartphone and you have your old model replaced by a new model, the old model is still of value, from an environmental perspective its most preferred if we postpone the replacement altogether,” said Ruth Mugge, professor in design for sustainable consumer behaviour, TU Delf. 

By postponing your replacement, it allows you to “save critical materials in the product but you also save the pollution and CO2 emissions that are needed for the production,” Mugge added. 

However, what if your mobile phone’s battery is broken, and the screen needs to be fixed? Well, have you thought of just repairing the simple problem rather than going out to purchase a brand-new phone? “There is so much benefit to gain from repairing your smartphone, thereby it postpones the replacement and solves a lot of problems,” said Mugge. 

Unitar stats show that in 2022, it was recorded that over 5.3 billion phones were disregarded, additionally in Eu countries for example Ireland according to the phone company ‘Vodafone’ their are over 5 million unused smartphones going to dissipate. 

Solutions

What can we do to fix this problem? The obvious answer is disposing of our unused devices correctly, but how? 

There are many solutions to this problem. For example, there are many websites that will guide you in the right direction including, ‘Wecycle’ in the Netherlands ran by OPEN foundation. They strive to encourage the correct way to recycle electronics including the mobile phone.  

Through their website you can enter your location, and it will direct you to the closest area in which you can dispose of your selected product whether it is e-waste or paper. Sometimes you can find the ‘wecycle’ bins in your local supermarket making an easy and accessible way for you to recycle. 

Student using a Fairphone.

Another solution is ‘Fairphone’ a sustainable mobile phone company located in Amsterdam. They design their phones with the main motivation of sustainability.

“Our products are better for the environment, made with recycled and fair materials and have a lower environmental footprint,” expressed Ioiona Luncheon, Public relations, and Communications Manager at Fairphone. 

Fair phone’s newest model ‘Fairphone 5’ is equipped with swappable parts and not to mention it is e-waste free! “The Fairphone 5 because it’s built to last,” Luncheon added. 

With the climate crisis vastly growing, are you going to be more environmentally aware? If so, why not start with your mobile phone!