Mobile Phones Recycling
It is a known fact that mobile phone waste has a dangerous effect on human health and the environment. Mobile phones are not only potentially hazardous as they have mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium, but if they are sent to landfills or incinerators they can cause contamination of the groundwater by leaching. There is a desperate call on the public to recycle their old phones today.
The following facts about mobile phones should be known by the public so that they realise the importance of recycling them:
- Thousands of tons of waste that has toxic metals is accumulated by the millions of cell phones that are discarded.
- Landfills have over 500 million used phones.
- Mobile phone materials consist of PBT – persistent bio-accumulative toxins that can land up in the food chain and become a risk to children.
It is important to let everyone know just what recycling mobile phones means and how simple it is. It is better to recycle your old phone instead of letting it lie around being unused. This is because almost 100% of your phone’s materials are recoverable and can be generally used to make brand new products that range from gold rings and musical instruments to a bench for the park!
When you think that recycling your old mobile is going to make a huge impact on the environment then it is really worth it saying “goodbye” to the old phone! All you have to do is make sure you backup the memory before recycling your phone and store all the videos, texts and pictures before letting go. All you will have to do is take out the old SIM and take your mobile with the batteries, accessories and charger to the recycling point nearest to you.
It has been estimated that mobile phones are replaced or upgraded every year whether the older phone is in working condition or not. The old phones are either thrown away in the bin and eventually land up in a landfill somewhere in the UK. Research and studies show that an old phone with its battery will take almost 1000 years to break down fully. Moreover, mobile handsets can end up not only polluting water supplies but even the soil as they leach chemicals that are toxic and dangerous.
New laws have been laid down by the government in the UK that state that throwing any kind of electronic gadget or device in the bin is an offence. These should be instead taken to the recycling centres in the area, reused, or even donated to various charities. There are plenty of mobile phone recycling sites that will give you cash for your old phones or even shopping vouchers. Once these sites receive your old mobiles they reuse the phone or recycle the parts to make new handsets. Some centres also send these mobiles to underdeveloped or developing countries where people cannot afford to buy them.
The EU has set certain targets for recycling and therefore the UK government is doing its best to bring about great awareness of “Mobile Phone recycling” and the correct disposal of old phones. Recycling schemes are available online as well as offline, and people are being convinced of their responsibility towards recycling of their old mobiles. The faster people get involved in the effort of making sure that there is less electronic waste being generated in their country, the quicker the world will be a safer place to live in!
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