There has been increasing awareness of the role of waste in the production of greenhouse gas emissions and its impacts on climate change. Diminishing natural resources has led to the recognition that what is discarded as waste has the potential to be reused as resources. Governmental legislation on prohibiting toxic materials and prevention and control of the volume of waste has helped in decreasing adverse environmental effects. There is a growing public awareness about waste prevention and its beneficial effects. The society has to replace the linear model of extract-produce-consume-dispose to closed Loop's approach of resource recovery and waste management based on the principle of controlling material inputs to maximise recycling and recovery. Different approaches and tools are used in waste management. The waste hierarchy ranks waste management options according to what is best for the environment. Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment are used as a tool to choose the best environment options considering each stage that product undergoes.
This paper considers the problem of e-waste generation from increasing use of mobile phone. It dwells upon the steps taken for waste reduction and suggests recommendations for further improvements. Mobile phone parts and accessories contain scarce and expensive materials as well as toxic materials. In developed countries, a user changes phone within 18 months. But discarded phone could be refurbished and reused and thus extending its active life. An effective collection system is required for taking back the discarded phone from the users.
A mobile phone has grown on functionalities and sophistication. With further improvements in its energy demand and its materials of construction, it will be feasible in near future to recycle all its components creating zero waste.
Key Words: Linear Model, Waste hierarchy, Life Cycle Thinking, E-waste, Greenhouse gas, Zero waste.
INTRODUCTION
Waste affects every member of the society. It signifies a poor use of resources. In 2014, 2.6 billion tonnes of waste was generated in the European Union from all economic activities and households. This means an average of 6 tonnes of waste is generated for every European citizen (“Waste Statistics”). As general prosperity has grown, propensity for higher consumption has also increased, leading to a higher generation of waste. There has a direct correlation between wealth and waste. Waste generation has also increased due to the adoption of the extract-produce-consume-dispose linear model where resources are extracted, transformed into goods, consumed and discarded. Few of these discarded items are genuinely recycled. Affluence has provided an option for buying new gazettes than reusing old ones. This is happening in the case of the mobile phone. As new models with more features and better design are introduced in the market, people replace their working mobile phone with new model. A mobile phone is now discarded after an average one and half years of use. The short lifespan of the product cycle is causing an increase in e-waste generation.
Mobile Phone and E-Waste: A rough estimate puts 7 billion mobile phones in circulation as on 2015 for the world population of 7.13 billion, i.e. 96 connections per 100 citizens The global Smartphone sale increased by 12% annually to reach 1.4 billion units in 2015 (Costello). 93% of adults in the UK own or use a mobile phone with 91.5 million (end of 2015) mobile subscriptions (“Fast Facts”). Mobile phones contain toxic materials as lead, cadmium, nickel, and lithium. The increasing number of mobile phone production and their shortening life span has increased e-waste generation and changing the nature of the waste. These are adversely impacting the environment in terms of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Good waste management practices can significantly reduce these impacts and Life Cycle Assessment is often used as a tool to choose the best environment options.
Scope of the study: This paper discusses issues related to the e-waste generation from mobile phones. It gives an overview of the resource considerations within the product life cycle of the mobile phone and identifies a range of interventions to reduce level waste generated in the product. The paper extensively draws upon the House of Lords Report on “Waste Reduction” for guidance. The paper first discusses waste and waste management policies practised in the European Union and the United Kingdom. It further explores the best practices that minimise the negative impacts of waste. It draws upon resources from the life cycle assessments already done and information provided by the mobile phone manufacturers because Life Cycle Assessment is a time-consuming complex exercise requiring a massive amount of data and research that is beyond the scope of this paper.
WASTE AND WASTE REDUCTION STRATEGY
The common perception about waste is limited to emptying bins on time or objecting to setting up a landfill or incinerator in the neighbourhood. However, European law defines waste as any substance or object which is discarded or likely to be discarded or required to be discarded (“Directive 2006/12/EC”). The UK generated 203 million tonnes of total waste in 2014; construction, demolition, and excavation sector generating over half of this and households responsible for 13.7 % (“UK Statistics on Waste”).
E-waste and EU directives: Waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations are law that apply to electrical and electronics products. Each year, 1.2 million tonnes of electrical and electronic waste are discarded out of which 75% ends up in the landfill. As they contain lead, arsenic, and other toxins, they cause damage to natural habitat, wildlife and human health (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment). Furthermore, modern electronics parts and circuitries contain high-priced metals like silver, platinum, and gold. These precious materials could be recycled from discarded equipments. This would benefit environment and enhance resource efficiency. The first WEEE directive 2002/96/EC (“Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)” 1) described collection procedure for end-of-life electronics and electrical devices. The RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC dealt with hazardous substances and restricted the use of following materials (“Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment”):
1. Lead 2. Mercury 3. Cadmium 4. hexavalent chromium and flame retardants polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers.
In order to tackle the fast growing waste stream, the new WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU entered into force and became effective on 14 February 2014 (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment). The regulations have been further revised vide the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013. Part 3 of the regulation covers producer’s obligations both in terms of the EEE they sell and in terms of financing the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE (WEEE Regulations Government Guidance Notes 6).
Waste Framework Directive: Article 4 of the revised EU Waste Framework Directive (“Directive 2008/98/EC”) sets out five steps for dealing with waste, ranked according to environmental impact. It establishes the waste hierarchy as shown in fig.1.
The waste hierarchy sets an order of priority. Waste prevention is most preferred option followed by preparing waste for re-use, recycling and energy recovery, with disposal as the last resort. Waste prevention is the most efficient and provides most sustainable use of resources as it avoids the creation of waste. This can be achieved by improvement in the design and/or manufacturing processes or changing the customer behaviour (“Waste Reduction” 12). Re-use means a product is used again for the same purpose for which it was originally manufactured. Re-use avoids creation of waste by keeping products in use for a longer period. The purpose of ‘preparing for re-use’ is same as re-use. But, in this case, the product is discarded by the original owner and as per the definition of the Waste Framework Directive, it is a waste. However, after sorting, and repairing, the product may be used by someone thus contributing to the reduction of the waste. Thus, preparing for re-use is regarded as contributing to waste prevention in a wider sense (“Preparing a Waste Prevention Programme” 9). Recycle is at the third level of the hierarchy. Here materials are recovered from a product into use. In the case properties of recovered material get inferior and do not remain suitable for use in the original application, but can be used in some other application. Recovered material is used in its original form where changes in the properties are small. Waste Recovery is at the next level of the hierarchy. Here, energy is recovered from the waste materials. Only on exhausting all above options, waste should be disposed of. In the revised Waste Framework Directive, waste is considered as a valued resource instead of waste being treated as an unwanted burden. It envisages EU to become a recycling society and sets targets for EU member states to recycle 50% of their municipal waste and 70% of construction waste by 2020 (“Being wise with waste: the EU’s approach to waste management” 4)
Categorisation in the waste hierarchy provides an effective process in selecting most efficient and environmentally sound choice. However, in few cases departing from it can give a better outcome. Decision makers should consider factors that are influenced by local conditions and the type of environmental problem. Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment are based on a scientific approach to identify the best option (“Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment for Waste Management” 1).
Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment: The journey of a product starts from mining for acquiring raw material, to its production, distribution, use and finally, reuse, recycling, energy recovery, and disposal of the remaining waste. Life Cycle Thinking considers the consumption of resources and environmental impact of the product throughout the life of the product. Life Cycle Assessment quantifies this by assessing the emissions, resources consumed and environmental impact that can be attributed to the product. The objective of Life Cycle Thinking is to reduce overall environmental impacts (“Preparing a Waste Prevention Programme” 10). Lifecycle thinking in product design leads resource efficiency by utilizing natural resources in the most effective way and by repeated recycling. Main steps associated with Life Cycle Assessment techniques are (“Resource Guide: Conducting a Life Cycle Assessment” 2):
• Compilation of inventory of energy and material inputs and environmental emission.
• Evaluation of the environmental impacts from identified inputs and emissions;
• interpreting the results.
Limitations of LCA: Lack of information pertaining to properties of materials used within the product places limitation on carrying out LCA. This leads to the absence of consistency in evaluation and reporting environment impact. In the case of mobile phone, raw materials are procured globally and the manufacturer has little control over the mines where minerals are extracted and processed. ISO 14001 standards have been recommended as a benchmark in implementing sustainability practices (Waste Reduction 36).
MOBILE PHONE LIFE CYCLE
20-50 million tonnes of e-waste are made up of discarded mobile phones that are obsolete or unwanted. These e-wastes contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and arsenic that was used earlier in manufacturing mobile phones. Put into landfills along with e-waste they contaminate soil and groundwater. The following diagram (figure 2) shows the life cycle of a mobile phone that it goes through before final disposal. It requires emphasis that during various stages of life cycle, a mobile and its components and accessories may cross international borders. The transborder movements may take place, for example, when phones are resold after refurbishing or returned via take-back schemes.
1. Design: A mobile phone should be designed considering reuse, recycle, and minimal disposal. Product design affects every stage of mobile lifecycle and should be made to have the least effect on human health and the environment, especially from the waste management perspective. There has been a spectacular evolution of the mobile phone technology over last four decades. The most of the improvements have been driven by consumer demand. However, many of these changes have beneficial environmental effects as elaborated below:
i) Size and weight of the phone: To increase the portability of the phones, size and weight of the phones has been reduced considerably. Initial phones weighed around 4 kg. With the improvement in design, the size and weight have progressively reduced and today mobile phones weigh less than 100 grams. Along with weight, size has also reduced. Reduction in size and weight has led to consumption of less natural resources in terms of energy and materials in the production process.
ii) Increase in battery capacity and reduction in size: With the improvement in technology and the type of materials used in the battery, its size has decreased but its capacity has increased. While the initial lead battery was able to supply power to the mobile phone for only 4 hours, this has increased to 10 days or more now when the mobile phone is in standby mode. Mobile phone industry phased out lead acid battery. It further phased out nickel cadmium as an electrolyte and now uses nickel metal hydride or lithium ion. These have benefitted the environment in two ways. As phone batteries have progressively become smaller in size, fewer materials and resources have been used in their manufacture. A second benefit is phasing out of hazardous lead and cadmium. This has made a mobile phone much safer at the end of life from environmental considerations. It is easier for recycle operation to recover metals from the batteries. In the case, batteries are sent to waste incineration, or to landfill, there will be less environmental damage (“Guideline on the Awareness Raising-Design Considerations” 7).
There has been improvement battery lifespan and charge-discharge cycle characteristics leading saving in energy as well as resources.
iii) Mobile phones have been designed to consume less energy while idle or in operation. This has been done by improving the electronic efficiency of components and subassemblies and reducing the overall energy requirement of circuitries.
iv) More functionality has been added to mobile phones making them multifunctional. Besides making phone call and sending text, a smartphone can now function as digital assistant, still and video camera, music and video player, gaming and entertainment device, digital clock, and socializing. It can access the internet. It can be used for making and receiving payment, for online purchase and many other functions. These multipurpose functionalities in a mobile phone have made redundant the need for many additional electronic devices. This has further reduced the use of materials and resources especially energy.
Recommendations:
i) Elimination of waste caused by software and hardware incompatibility: Mobile industry is technology driven. New phone models having specific characteristics are regularly introduced in the market. Since its launch in 2007, Apple has released ten generations of iPhone models. Each new model has more features and lower energy use. It is difficult to bring in standardization for uniformity among different models. However, some technical incompatibilities are unnecessary that leads to unwarranted waste. For example, stime consumers are forced to discard mobile phones when changing service providers. These wastes can be eliminated by incorporating suitable changes in the software design to make the phone compatible to different service provider requirements. Such incompatibility can be also be eliminated by adopting universally a single transmission technology protocol. All new mobile phones will be based on this universal standard.
There are possibilities of waste reduction through hardware incompatibilities. Two of accessories that come with mobile phones are battery and battery charger. Along with the phone, these accessories have to be replaced. It is understood that battery of a mobile phone is a sensitive device and requires an adapter with particular characteristics. However, some standardization in battery and battery charger will go a long way to eliminate the wastage. A mobile phone becomes useless when its battery gets exhausted and a suitable replacement is not available in the market (“Guideline on the Awareness Raising-Design Considerations” 13).
ii) Improvement in design for re-use and recycle: Design changes can enhance recycling and re-use options. An icon may be provided on the screen that can provide information of a refurbisher or recycler to the user. As discussed above, incorporating compatibility would help in refurbishing the phone for continued use for a longer duration. Mobile should be designed so that it is easy for cleaning, dismantling and replacement of cases and carrying out small repairs. This would increase the possibility of reuse. Further, research for easy disassembling of mobile parts is being carried out. One approach that is being explored is the use of heat for dismantling the phone parts. The possibility of using biodegradable plastics in mobile phone cover is being explored. This would facilitate composting of the cover material. Use of recycled plastics in phone accessories is being tried out. Fujitsu is developing a plastic that is produced from corn starch (“Mobile Phone Lifecycles” 4). Another aspect that requires the attention of the designer is the use of metal embedded plastics as separation of metal from plastics becomes difficult during recycling.
iii) Reduction of Life Cycle Energy Consumption: Mobile manufacturers have success in improving the energy efficiency of the device and peripherals. Nonetheless, any improvement in energy consumption reduces carbon footprint. Hence, all efforts should be made to design a more energy efficient phone by enhancing efficiency of electronic components and software power management. This would pave the way for renewable energy battery charging sources like solar cells and micro fuel cells (“Guideline on the Awareness Raising-Design Considerations” 16).
iv) Exclusion of Toxic chemicals: As discussed, use of lead and cadmium in mobile has been discontinued. To make circuitry completely lead free, the use of lead-free solder are now being used. Fire retardants are used in a mobile phone casing as a safety measure to ward off the possibility of fire from electrical malfunctioning especially at the battery. Brominated flame retardants have been phased out by Apple, Motorola, and Sony due to health and environmental concerns. However, other manufacturers have continued using the compound at below 0.1% concentration as mandated by RoHS Directive. This has affected plastic recycling as brominated flame retardants (BFR) above 0.1% in plastics is banned. They have to determine the BFR concentration before use. Revised RoHS has allowed the use of beryllium in mobile phone considering its use in critical applications. However, beryllium creates a health hazard to workers while extracting copper from used parts (Heffner).
2. Manufacturing: Following table shows minerals and metals used in mobile phone parts:
Country-wise Mineral Resources that are used in the mobile phone is listed in Table-1. It can be seen from the list that mobile manufacturers procure minerals across the globe. 90% of rare earth minerals come from China. The mining and extraction of rare earth minerals are not done in an environmentally friendly way. The waste liquid left behind after extraction of rare earth contains traces of radioactive thorium and uranium and other toxic chemicals. The waste liquid is drained to tailing lake. As waste is in liquid form, it leaches into groundwater creating environmental hazards. But now improved process are being implemented which separates the water from waste. Water is recycled after processing and residual paste is first treated with cement and then laid in a disposal pit.
Source: Cell Phone Minerals
3. Collection, Reuse, and Recycle: A consumer purchases a new mobile phone with more features. What is done to the old phone? Some keep the old phone as standby. Some pass it to their friends or relatives or deposit it in a recognised take-back scheme. Though the average useful life of a mobile phone is around seven years, users in developed countries change phone within 18 months. It is estimated that in the United Kingdom, around 15 million phones are discarded each year (“Mobile Phone Lifecycles” 4).
If a mobile phone is deposited at a collection centre or returned to the supplier while purchasing a new phone, the collected old phone is first sent to a central collection centre where the phone is evaluated for recycling or potential reuse based on its condition. Reuse is the preferred option as it extends the life of the phone. Many of these phones after refurbishing are resold in developing countries that lack proper infrastructure for recycling. Here metals are often extracted from electronic parts and circuitry in makeshift smelters without any meaningful environmental protection. These actions lead to huge health problems and environmental damage to the ecosystem.
Recommendations:
1. Mobile phone should be used by the original user to a maximum extent. The user should be made aware of the benefit of extending the life of the device.
2. Mobile phone should not be thrown away as rubbish into a municipal collection system. This will result in phone going to landfill or incinerator. People should be educated and made aware of the harmful consequence of the action and should be told to deposit the used phone at a collection centre.
3. As the value of a used phone drops quickly, users should be encouraged not to keep an unneeded phone and promptly deposit it to a collection centre.
4. Collection point should be located at a prominent place and its presence should be advertised.
5. Whenever possible, battery and accessories should be collected along with the mobile phone.
6. The government should ensure that collection centres work in a responsible way.
7. Providing an incentive scheme for returning used phones should be considered.
CONCLUSION
Public awareness and governmental legislation are the driving forces behind the success of waste reduction efforts. However, much remains to be done to move away from throwaway culture and embrace the concept of a zero waste society. Continues efforts have resulted in a reduction of waste sent to the incinerator and landfill by increasing recycling of waste. Nevertheless, in most of the cases, recycling only delays the journey to the landfill because recycling in most of the cases results in downcycling. After one or two further uses, materials lose their properties and have to be discarded. The concept of ‘cradle to cradle’ is a positive vision of the future in which all resources will circulate around one of the two cycles. One is the ‘biological cycle’, where renewable resources that come from nature, are returned to nature. That means all toxic, and non-biodegradable materials are kept out of ‘biological cycle’. Side-by-side there is a ‘technical cycle’, where non-renewable resources are recycled endlessly (Hill, Shaw, and Hislop 12). In this concept, a value is added to natural resources rather than destroying and depleting it.
A mobile phone from being a humble phone has now transformed into a multifunctional device. Its functionalities will increase as electronic components become more efficient and sophisticated. This trend will increase its usage, as well as the rate of obsolescence, and e-waste generation. However, we can expect positive future developments where a mobile phone and its accessories will be environment-friendly. Its energy requirements will be met from renewable resources. All its components will be recycled creating zero waste.
.
Work Cited
Hill, J., Shaw, B. and Hislop, H. “A zero waste UK”. Institute for Public Policy Research and Green Alliance, London, www.green-alliance.org.uk, October 2006. Web. 1 Jan. 2017.
“Being wise with waste:the EU’s approach to waste management”. European Union, 2010. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/ WASTE%20BROCHURE.pdf.
“Cell Phone Minerals”. Minerals Education Coalition, 2013, www.mineralseducationcoalition.org. Web. 1 Jan. 2017
Costello, S. “Smartphone market sees record 2015, but not without challenges”. Mobile World Live, GSM Association, 28 Jan 2016. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. https://www. mobileworldlive.com/devices/analysis-devices/smartphone-market-sees-record-2015/
“Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment”. Official Journal L 037 , 13/02/2003 P. 0019 - 0023, 13 February 2003. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32002L0095
“Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)”. Official Journal of the European Union, 13 February 2003. Web. 1 Jan. 2017.
“Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on waste”. Document 32006L0012, Official Journal of the European Union, 27 April 2006. Web. 1 Jan. 2017.
“Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on Waste and repealing certain Directives”. Document 32008L0098, Official Journal of the European Union,22 Nov. 2008. Web. 1 Jan. 2017.
Heffner, M. “Acceptance of Beryllium by EU RoHS can Boost Innovation in Electronic Products”. Business Wire, businesswire.com, 23 June 2011. Web. 4 Jan. 2017.
“Fast Facts”. Ofcom. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/facts.
“Guideline on the Awareness Raising-Design Considerations”. Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative (MPPI) - Project 4.1, Basel Convention, UNEP, 25 March 2009. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. http://archive.basel.int/industry/mppiwp/guid-info/guiddesign.pdf
Guvendik, M. “From Smartphone to Futurephone”. Leiden University and Delft University of Technology, 29 August 2014. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. http://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/ object/ uuid%3A13c85c95-cf75-43d2-bb61-ee8cf0acf4ff?collection=education
“Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment for Waste Management”. JRC, European Commission. Web. 2 Jan. 2017. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/publications/ pdf/Making_Sust_Consumption.pdf
“Mobile Phone Lifecycles”. The GSM Association, London, www. gsmworld.com, October 2006.
“Preparing a Waste Prevention Programme”. Directorate-General Environment, European Commission, October 2012. Web. 2 Jan. 2017.
“Resource Guide: Conducting a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)”. B Corporation, B Lab UK, London, bcorporation.net, 16 Feb.2008. Web. 1 Jan. 2017.
“UK Statistics on Waste”. Government Statistical Service, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, 15 December 2016. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. https://www.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577752/UK_Statistics_on_Waste_statistical_notice_Dec_2016_FINAL.pdf
“Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE)”. Directorate-General Environment, European Commission, 06 Septmeber 2016. Web. 2 Jan. 2017. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/index_en.htm
“Waste Reduction”. Volume 1: 6th Report of Session 2007–08, Science and Technology Committee, House of Lords, London, 20 August 2008. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldselect/ldsctech/163/163.pdf
“Waste Statistics”. Eurostat, European Commission, October 2016. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Waste_statistics.
“WEEE Regulations Government Guidance Notes”. Department for Business Innovation & Skills, London, March 2014. Web. 1 Jan. 2017. https://www.gov.uk/government/ uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/292632/bis-14-604-weee-regulations-2013-government-guidance-notes.pdf.
