Cellular clean-up
The world has 4bn cellphone users, according to the latest industry figures. That could mean that thousands of tons of electronic gadgets, many of them containing toxic chemicals, will end up in landfills within a few years.
That means not using chemical compounds that are harmful to the environment, and encouraging recycling. The company is phasing out antimony trioxide, a toxin used in the manufacture of cellphones, as well as harmful brominated and chlorinated compounds. It is also working to remove the trace amounts of lead still found in its handsets.
It has created 5000 handset recycling facilities in 85 countries worldwide, including SA. Sormunen says Nokia plans to step up marketing efforts so more people know about the programme. “Up to about 80% of the materials in mobile phones can be reused,” she says.
Nokia is piloting incentives for people to recycle their handsets. In northern Europe, it donates money to nature conservation for every phone handed in. In others, such as the US, it plants a tree for every phone returned. In China, Nokia offers its users free airtime.
But convincing people to recycle is a big challenge. A recent survey commissioned by Nokia shows the vast majority of people who upgrade their handsets put their old phones in a cupboard or sock drawer and forget about them.
Another area where the industry is trying to clean up its act is in battery chargers. Major handset manufacturers agreed last week to build phones with a standardised charger jack. Sormunen says this means that Nokia will no longer have to ship a charger with each of its devices. This will help shrink the size of phone packaging, leading to fewer trucks on the road and less waste.
Already, Nokia has shifted to compact packaging and, Sormunen says: “We’ve been able to take about 12000 trucks off the road, and saved 100000t of paper and à470m.”
Chargers are also an environmental hazard. Though they have become more efficient in recent years, they still draw power if plugged in (even without a cellphone attached). To conserve energy, Sormunen says chargers should be disconnected from power after a phone’s battery has been charged. She says the wasted energy from chargers is enough to provide electricity to 100000 European houses.
Cellular waste – give your views
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