The benefits of recycling your cell phone
We all have cell phones these days, and they are a part of our daily lives. The majority of Americans purchase a new cell phone every 12 to 18 months, and each person generates an increasing amount of electronic garbage each year. There are already 163 million smartphones in the US alone, and there are 1.7 billion smartphone users worldwide. This number is anticipated to expand. Due to the requirement for both a personal and a professional mobile phone, it is typical for people to own multiple cell phones. In today’s economic environment, especially in businesses, cell phones are essential for conducting business and these companies are also accountable for properly recycling their employees’ e-waste.
The annual mountain of e-waste keeps growing while the economy appears to be improving year after year, topping 44.7 million metric tons in 2016 and is projected to increase by another 17% to 52.2 million metric tonnes (Leahy 2017). Only 14–17% of cell phones are recycled annually due to the increased number of phones being discarded each year and it keeps increasing.
Due to the materials employed, cell phones require a lot of energy to manufacture. 750 pounds of silver, 50 pounds of palladium, 700 pounds of gold, and 35,000 pounds of copper would be produced from recycling one million cell phones. The amount of gold and silver in cell phones that Americans discard each year is estimated to be over $60 million. Additionally, if 100 million cell phones were recycled, the United States could save enough energy to power approximately 370,000 houses for a year.
Cell phones can have a harmful impact on both people and animals if they are simply discarded rather than recycled. Toxic substances like chromium, arsenic, beryllium, and cadmium are found in smartphones. Cell phones should never be disposed of improperly because it could harm the environment. In order to ensure that your e-waste is recycled responsibly for the environment and your data security, businesses need to ensure that they are working with R2 accredited recycling facilities.
Request an estimate on our website or by calling 860-627-5800 to learn more. Our experts will ask you a few questions to better understand your requirements, after which they will tell you exactly what to expect from start to finish, including the cost.
