Smartphones Negatively Impact the Environment

Smartphones, devices that are changed too frequently and insufficiently recycled, have an increasingly negative impact on the environment, according to a joint study by two French environmental organizations, Ademe and FNE.

Since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007, seven billion smartphones have been sold worldwide. Sales have increased year by year, from 139 million devices in 2008 to nearly 1.5 billion last year.

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Each new model is becoming more complex, with larger screens and better cameras. On average, about 50 metals are used in the production of smartphones, which are often difficult to recycle because they are alloys.

Mining of mineral raw materials in some countries is also problematic as it causes pollution, for example in China with tantalum, or political unrest, as in Congo with tantalum.

According to the study, the French change smartphones every two years, although in 88 percent of cases the devices are in good working condition. The frequent changes are attributed by the authors of the study to “psychological and social factors, but also to the fact that in most cases smartphones are not designed to be durable and easily repairable.”

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However, consumers can influence this by defining their needs before purchasing and informing themselves about the characteristics of the smartphone, such as whether the battery can be removed from the casing, whether there are spare parts available, and so on, the authors say.

And ultimately, they can breathe new life into that material, as only 15 percent of unused smartphones are returned to manufacturers for recycling. “Tens of millions of phones are sleeping in our drawers, phones that we can still use, but in the end, we never do,” the study states.