Cell Phone Recycling? Absolutely!

Today, there are approximately 140 million cell phone users in the United States. At the rate that cell phone technology is evolving and people switching to the latest models, it is estimated that the average American cell phone user discards an older model every 14 months. There may already be over 700 million used cell phones in the US, with 100 million added every year.

Last year, Americans discarded 100 million used cell phones. Less than 10% of these were recycled. In a study conducted in the last quarter of 2007, iSuppli Corporation, a leading market intelligence provider, noted that over 10% of cell phone users threw away their used cell phones (or declared them lost or stolen) while 36.8% stored away their used cell phones. If this figure is applied to the entire year, Americans threw away to the bin over 10 million cell phones last year while 36 million units (from 2007 alone!) are now gathering dust in closets and drawers throughout America!

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), if Americans recycled all the 100 million cell phones discarded last year, we would have saved enough energy to energize over 194,000 US homes for one solid year.

Read the iSuppli Corporation Report here

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
"Recycle Your Cell Phone. It's an Easy Call"

PaceButler.com Recycling Blog
For the latest Cell Phone Recycling Information

500 million cell phones dumped into our landfills could potentially leak 312,000 pounds of lead into our underground water systems.

"E-Waste Harmful Chemicals"

4 Easy Steps To Keep Your Cell Phones Away From The Landfill:

1. Use the Purchase Price List to find the buyback value of your phones.

2. Print a free FedEx Pre-paid Shipping Label so we can pay the shipping.

3. Box up your phone handsets and batteries (no accessories, chargers, etc.) then ship with our pre-paid label.

4. Get Cash! We'll issue your check within 4 business days of receiving your cell phones.

Gold (AU)

The most malleable of all metals, gold is primarily used in the jewellery industry. Increasingly important areas are electrical contacts and connectors for telecommunications and electronics. Since gold never corrodes or tarnishes, it is perfect for conducting electric current, even if it is very weak.

Gold is used in the circuit boards of your cell phones.

Gold in Wikepedia

"By today's method of strip-mining, collecting one clean ounce of gold generates 79 tons of toxic waste. That's the equivlent of 35 cars decked on top of each other."

"But if you recycle one phone you can reclaim all the metals you'll need for the manufacture of a new one."

How Recycling Works See video below
HowStuffWorks

Silver is a very ductile and malleable (slightly harder than gold) metal used in jewellery and silverware. It's also used in various applications in dentistry,photography, electronics, etc.

It's in many cell phones as part of the circuit boards, soldered electronic components, and batteries.

Silver in Wikipedia

The Platinum Group Metals are a group of six rare metals - platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. They are mined in ore deposits in South Africa, Russia, Canada and in the state of Montana, in the US.

Resistance to corrosion and tarnishing, combined with mechanical strength and hardness, make the Platinum Group Metals suitable for highly demanding applications, such as glass fibre and high purity glass industries, surgical instruments, electrical contacts and laboratory equipment.

It is used in cell phone circuit boards and contact points.

Platinum in Wikepedia

Our advice - no. Even if you're an expert.

Trying to extract these precious metals on your own from a few cell phones is inefficient. There are only minuscule amounts of these on each cell phone. The recyclers make their money by recycling tons and tons of cell phones and other e-waste.

Dangerous

The extraction of some of these metals may involve application of other potentially-hazardous chemicals. Storage and usage of these should only be in an industrial setting.

"The Belgian company Umicore is in the business of reclaiming those materials. It extracts 17 metals from our unwanted televisions, computers and cellphones and from more ominous-sounding industrial byproducts like drosses and anode slimes. Umicore harvests silver from spent photo-developing solutions collected at American big-box stores and sells it to Italian jewelers. The company describes its work as "aboveground mining."

JON MOOALLEM
"The Afterlife of Cell Phones"
The Washington Post

Umicore: Precious Metals Refining

The ore that helps make your cell phone tick is also the same metal that's fueling the civil war in Congo (formerly Zaire) and killing the endangered Eastern Lowland Gorillas. Coltan is the African slang for the metallic ore columbite-tantalite used to produce niobium and tantalum.

Tantalum is the corrosion- and heat-resistant metal which in its powder form is used to produce capacitors and other parts for cell phones, dvd players, laptops, and video game consoles. The size of the cell phone, laptop, and video gaming industries necessitates huge global demands for this metal and the ore from which it is produced - coltan.

Photo Courtesy ofMvemba Phezo Dizolele, "Coltan miners, South Kivu"
Eye on Africa "Getting Congo's Wealth To Its People"
Tantalum in Wikipedia
Coltan in Wikipedia

Although Coltan is found in several countries, notably Australia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Egypt, it is believed that 80% of the world's coltan reserves is in Congo or the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In particular, coltan occurs in the eastern part of Congo where the Kahuzi Biega National Park, home to the Eastern Lowland Gorilla, is located.

Because of the huge demand for Coltan and the good price that it commands in the world market (reaching $600 per kilogram, at one point), the different armed groups (government soldiers, rebels, bandits, etc) that operate in the area after civil war in the Congo broke out in 1984, also operate mining concerns throughout the region. Proceeds from Coltan exports by these bands are then use to purchase weapons and ammunitions, prolonging the war that has already claimed 3.2 million lives since 1998. The occupation of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwandan troops is seen as a move to exploit Coltan. Coltan smuggling is rampant in this area, passing through the bordering African countries, and thence, to Europe.

There are legitimate producers of Tantalum from other countries, notably Australia and Canada, and many cell phone manufacturers have taken the position of purchasing only from these suppliers, and from legitimate African suppliers. However, the volume of coltan that is smuggled through the porous border is huge nd priced cheaply that there is always the likelihood of blood-tainted coltan being used by cell phone manufacturers.

World Rainforest Movement
Congo, Democratic Republic: Cell phones, forest destruction and death

Coltan, Gorillas and cellphones

Photo courtesy of TideTurners
"Is Your Mobile Fueling War in the Congo

The Eastern Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) is a subspecies of the eastern gorilla (the other one is the Eastern Mountain Gorilla) and resides primarily in the Kahuzi Biega National Park. Prior to the outbreak of the Congolese civil war in 1998, the population of the eastern lowland gorillas, popularly known as "silverbacks," has reached 17,000. Today there are about 3,000 silverback gorillas left, a number that continues to dwindle as gorillas fall prey to bushmeat hunters, poachers, and the degradation of their habitat due to fighting, coltan mining, and human migration, attracted by Coltan.

Eastern Lowland Gorillas in the World WildLife Fund

Coltan, Gorillas, and Cell Phone

The answer might not be as simple as that but it's a step in the right direction and it would certainly help in saving the gorillas. The civil war in the Congo rages on and the encroachment of people into the gorilla sanctuary continues, but the recycling model is still valid. Cell phone recycling translates to lesser demand for coltan, making it less attractive for people to engage in coltan mining.

"Most people don't know that there's a connection between this metal in their cell phones and the well-being of wildlife in the area where it's mined," said Karen Killmar, the associate curator of mammals at the San Diego Zoo, as reported in The National Geographic.

"Recycling old cell phones is a way for people to do something very simple that could reduce the need for additional coltan...and help protect the gorillas," she said.

National Geographic, "Can Cell-Phone Recycling Help African Gorillas?"

Read Cell Phone Recycling and Gorillas - The Hidden Connection
Pacebutler Recycling Blog

A group of kids from Park Mead Elementary School in Contra Costa county, CA joined together to raise funds through cell phone recycling (in cooperation with Pacebutler Corporation) to be donated to the charity The Smile Train.

Please see Cell Phone Recycling and Cleft Palates

Would you like to start your own fund drive today for your favorite charity or non-profit organization? Please visit:

Fundraising with Pacebutler

Recycling! Recycling!
This is my main gateway lens focused on recycling and environmental issues. Content summaries and previews of all my recycling lenses are found here, along with links to relevant web pages outside of Squidoo.

Recycling Facts on Squidoo

For the Latest Updates and Information on Recycling
Pacebutler Recycling Blog