Cell phones recycled

Manufacture of cell phones and personal computers consumes 3% of gold and silver mined worldwide each year, and 13% of palladium and 15% of cobalt as well. Electronics contain approximately 60 elements, some valuable and hazardous, or both [13], Recycling the valuable elements is the driving force behind the intensive activities engaged in disposal of e-waste. 

By 2002, there were about 1 billion cell phones in use throughout the world. By 2005, experts estimated that about 500 million unused cell phones were stuck in drawers and closets for storage. According to experts at the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earth science branch of the federal government, these discarded cell phones are a treasure trove of valuable metals waiting to be recycled. 

While one particular cell phone doesn t have huge quantities of valuable metals, taken as a group, unused cell phones could be a huge source of rare, recyclable metals. This would add significantly to metals already recycled in the United States and perhaps alleviate pressure on mining for new metals. 

At the moment, there are no programs or processes in place for recycling the materials that cell phones are made from. According to the USGS, less than one percent of the cell phones thrown away every year are actually recycled in some way. Like many of the parts in obsolete electronics, no one is quite sure what to do with them or howto make a profit in recycling.17... 

Daniel E. Sullivan, Recycled Cell Phones A Treasure Trove of Valuable Metals. United States Geological Survey Web Site. Available online. URL http //pubs.usgs.gov/ fs/2006/3097/fs2006-3097.pdf. Accessed November 19, 2006. 

Recycling of rare earths is until recently rarely undertaken in practice (Binnemans and Jones 2014 Graedel et al. 2011). Marshall (2014) points out several reasons why. These elements are present in only very small amounts in things like cell phones, and, as parts get smaller, so do the amounts of material used. In a touch screen, the elements are distributed throughout the material at the molecular level, and thus are not present as separate parts. 

Cellular Online, ReCellular to Provide CeU-phone Recycling in Latin America, http //www.cel-lular.co.za/news 2004/july/072204-receHular to provide cell.htm. 

In 2009, Motorola unveiled the world s first-carbon neutral cell phone, made from recycled water bottles. The company promised to offset the carbon emissions created during the phone s manufacture by investing in reforestation and renewable resources. 

E.6.1 Determine the end-of-life options for the plastics made into your cell phone. Can they be recycled What type of plastic is used for the cell phone What is the recycling rate of that plastic Where can you take the cell phone at the end of its useful life ... 

For example, consumers usually use cell phones for a life cycle of 12-18 months before it is replaced. Therefore, the phone should be designed for ease of recyclability to minimize disposal effort. The designer must select the amount and mixture of materials from which the phtme is made to make disassembly easy. The design must also ensure that as few material types as possible are used during manufacturing (Donato 2008). 

Table 14.23 lists the characteristics of the cylindrical Li/FeS2 AA-size battery that is currently available commercially. This battery has better high-drain and low-temperature performance than the conventional zinc cells and is intended to be used in applications that have a high current drain requirement, such as cameras, computers, and cellular phones. An example of the advantage of the lithium cell, compared to the Zn/alkaline/Mn02 battery is shown in Fig. 14.85, which plots the number of flashes obtained with an autoflash SLR camera. The lithium battery outperforms the alkaline battery by delivering more flashes with a more rapid recycle time. See Fig. 6.12 for additional comparative data on the use of several battery types in photoflash use. 

---