November 2010
 Autopsy of a cell phone
Of the many products we use on a daily basis, the cell phone is increasingly important. They allow us to make phone calls, text message, surf the internet and take pictures. We can find directions, decide where our next meal is coming from and stay connected to friends and family near and far. Every product we use has a life cycle, just as we do.
In the life cycle of a cell phone, first, the materials must be extracted. According to information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 40 percent of a cell phone is made of metals, another 40 percent is made of plastics and the remaining 20 percent is made of ceramics. These metals must be mined, which leads to issues of pollution, habitat destruction and resource depletion.
- Circuit board
The circuit board contains all the information in the cell phone and does all the phone’s processing. It contains hard metals such as copper, gold, lead, nickel, zinc, beryllium, tantalum and coltan. The plastic and fiberglass in the circuit board require the use of crude oil, sand and limestone.
- Liquid crystalline display (LCD) screen
The LCD screen on a cell phone allows you to see the information displayed on the phone. When electric current is passed through the LCD, it become opaque, allowing you to see images. Mercury, which is very toxic, is often used to make the LCD screen.
- Rechargeable battery
Cell phones can use a nickel-cadmium battery, lithium-ion battery or lead-acid battery. In all cases, hard metals must be mined for the batteries, and all of these metals are potentially hazardous to the environment in concentrated exposure.
Next, the materials gathered for the cell phone must be processed. Materials processing for cell phones includes combining crude oil and natural gas to make the plastic and metal extraction requires heating, chemical treatment and electricity to get the pure metal. Those materials must then be shipped to manufacturing plants.
In manufacturing, the circuit board, LCDs and batteries must be built. The circuit board requires gold plating, copper wiring and circuits and glue to hold it all in place. The LCD screen is made by slotting the liquid crystalline substance between two layers of glass or plastic. The battery requires electrodes, made of metal, and a liquid substance for the current to pass through, called an electrolyte.
Before the cell phone gets to you, it undergoes packaging and transportation. Packaging usually uses paper, boxes and plastic. That means trees are cut down and more crude oil is used to make the paper and plastic. Products are transported by truck, ship and rail. All, of course, use fuel for the transport of cell phones from the factory to the stores where you buy them.
From the store, the cell phone finally reaches you, the consumer, and enters into the useful life stage of the cell phone life cycle. Cell phones are almost always purchased from cellular service providers along with contracts that bind your particular cell phone to only be used with that particular provider. When consumers are unhappy with the cellular service provider, they are sometimes forced to buy a new phone with a new provider. Because of this and ever-changing technology, the average cell phone’s useful life span is only 18 months.
When it is time for a new cell phone, the old phone has reached its end-of-life. There are generally two options: you can throw the cell phone in the garbage or you can find some place to recycle the cell phone.
- Disposal
Cell phones contain hard metals and plastics that are known to persist in the environment for hundreds of years or longer after they are disposed in a landfill. Some cell phones are even disposed of in waste facilities that use incineration to treat solid waste. Both landfills and incineration lead to air and water pollution issues and increased use and waste of precious finite resources.
- Reuse and recycle
Many organizations will take your old cell phones and donate them to people who can use them, refurbish them for new phones or recycle the cell phone parts properly. The reuse and refurbishing of cell phones extends the useful life stage of the cell phone, thereby reducing the need for further new cell phone production. Recycling reduces the amount of toxic waste being thrown in landfills or incinerated. To find cell phone recycling and reuse programs, go to earth911.com and search for ‘telephone recycling centers’ near you.
For additional recycling information:
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