In an ecologically tragic update of mists and sweet fertility, fall is also now the season for new smartphone launches. The pre-hype starts in the summer, then, when the leaves start to fall, the bank accounts of millions of people who will shell out a big price or sign an expensive new smartphone contract, to have the latest handsets. in their pocket.
Thus, handset vendors are encouraging one of technology’s most irresponsible rituals, that of promoting the waste and environmental damage created by totally unnecessary smartphone replacements on a schedule that artificially truncates the lifespan of such an expensive purchase. .
But in the name of glitzy ads promoting minor battery life boosts or tweaks to camera settings that most people will never use, millions of handsets are being thrown into a landfill. or the back of a desk drawer – handsets filled with potentially recyclable materials, including metals carrying high ethical and environmental costs.
Many people who claim to be environmentally conscious nevertheless get a new phone upgrade each time their phone contract expires. Yet at seven years old, a smartphone lasts twice as long as a laptop, and people could also save a lot on their bills by using the phone they own at the end of their contract. two years, with a SIM only offer.
Hire-purchase waste
But in a costly and environmentally damaging environment, handset makers, phone sellers and network operators are blurring that option with the fall sale of new handsets and new two-year contracts. Soon we’ll be bombarded with Black Friday and holiday marketing from all sides, encouraging us to buy new handsets outright or on contract re-engagement. A contract that is essentially the smartphone version of a car lease-purchase contract, except that when we fully reimburse the handset after two years of an expensive contract, we ridiculously throw away our device. It’s like dumping your fully paid-for car on the sidewalk and heading straight to the dealerships to get another one on a new lease-to-own commitment.
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When British consumers defend which? recently polled people about what they were doing with their old technology, a modest 3% admitted to throwing away their handsets (compared to 35% of inkjet printers). But 34% shoved their old smartphones into a drawer, the highest proportion of unnecessary idling across six categories of electronic devices.
Many environmentalists consider smartphones to be the most problematic device due to this short lifespan, encouraged by manufacturers and network operators. Smartphones are the most popular consumer device, and around half of Europeans surveyed acquire a new device every 18 months, according to Deloitte analysts. Some 4.5 billion smartphones are in use globally, with 1.5 billion new handsets expected to ship in 2022, indicating high device turnover.
Most of a phone’s carbon dioxide emissions – 83% according to Deloitte – are generated during manufacturing, shipping and the first year of use. Smartphones are expected to emit 146 million tonnes of carbon dioxide or equivalent emissions (CO2e) this year. That’s “only” half a percent of total global emissions, but it’s just one category of devices whose carbon impact could be reduced if people used the handsets for longer.
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Blood metals
Some researchers claim that the analysis of smartphone emissions is generally poor and that smartphones alone, from production to use, probably have the highest emissions of all devices, surpassing the combined total of desktops, laptops, and laptops. laptops and computer monitors.
The human costs are also significant. The production of phones requires the use of around 60 metals, including 16 of the 17 rare earth metals, “each contributing to a range of socio-economic and environmental effects”, explains Compareandrecycle.co.uk. Some are “blood metals”: Elements like cobalt, a key metal in lithium-ion batteries, are at the center of well-documented human exploitation and conflict. Others are exploited in toxic environments by the world’s poor.
Then there are the environmental costs. Some 34 kg of rock must be excavated to produce only 100 g of metal, which marks the ecosystems. Mining for gold and tin, both needed for smartphones, is devastating the Peruvian Amazon and the forests of Indonesia.
The extraction of iron, aluminum and copper – 40% of the metals by weight in a combined – generates toxic mine tailings implicated in catastrophic spills. Dredging the seabed for tin destroys coral reefs. Plans are underway to dredge the sea floor for rare metal rocks.
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Recycling is only part of the answer. Definitely don’t throw your phone away – in a landfill it can release toxic elements. But only 15% of global consumers recycle smartphones as-is, and because the components are tiny and tedious, currently only around 30% of reusable materials are salvageable.
Be sure to recycle or resell. But, much better, aim to use your phone for longer, ideally seven years (for maximum reduction in environmental impact, says Which?). When shopping, opt for refurbished rather than new. And for a change, consider giving the planet a gift this year: plug your ears against the siren call of this fall’s unnecessary and indulgent phone upgrade.
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