In 2020, more than 5.5 million electronic waste was thrown away in landfills.
This year, 5.3 billion mobile phones will be thrown away the international waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) forum says. Its estimate, based on global trade data, highlights the growing environmental problem of "e-waste". Many people keep old phones, rather than recycling them, research suggests.
Since MobileMuster started in 1998 almost 1,500 tonnes of mobiles and accessories have been collected and recycled, including over 14 million handsets and batteries. Australians have always loved their technology and have been early adopters.
An estimated 5.3 billion mobile phones will be thrown out in 2022, according to the WEE Forum and the UN's Global E-Waste Monitor. For context, that many unused phones would rise about 31,000 miles into the air when stacked on top of one another.
We generate around 40 million tons of electronic waste every year, worldwide. That's like throwing 800 laptops every second. An average cellphone user replaces their unit once every 18 months. E-waste comprises 70% of our overall toxic waste.
China is the largest producer of electronic waste worldwide, generating more than 10 million metric tons worth in 2019. This was followed by the United States where roughly seven million metric tons was produced.
Only 17.4 per cent of e-waste is effectively recycled. Australia has to move to a circular economy to reach net-zero emissions, experts say.
150+ million smartphones reach landfills every year**. That's a lot of mobile phones going to landfills, creating a devastating effect on the environment, especially when, worldwide, people are trying to fix the world's ecosystem.
Losing your smartphone can be stressful, given how much important data and access to services a typical one contains. On average, people lose their smartphone once per year, according to Lookout Mobile Security.
Australians are holding onto a staggering 5 million old phones that are broken and no longer working. They represent a stockpile of valuable materials and metals that can be reclaimed through recycling. We mine precious metals at enormous cost and they are an essential part of electronics.
Unused old mobile phones now officially outnumber human beings in Australia according to the latest data snapshot from product stewardship outfit MobileMuster, with the group likening the giant hidden e-waste stockpile to a retro cool collectibles market national hoarding addiction.
Once you have choosen your preferred mailing option package up your old mobile phones and accessories for recycling. Find an AusPost Post Office or street posting boxes. There are over 20,000 drop off points Australia wide. It's that easy!
We know that around 38% of Australians have repaired a mobile phone and there is a growing number of younger Australians extending the life of their phone this way.
Only about 50 percent of lost phones make their way back to their owners.
Nearly everyone has experienced it: that uh-oh moment when you realize your cellphone is missing. If you've ever lost or had a smartphone stolen, you're not alone. In the United States, about 113 smartphones go missing each minute (that's 160,000 a day and about 30 million a year!).
When the phones arrive at the recycling plant, they are dismantled by hand. Components are sorted into circuit boards, metal, glass, plastic and batteries. Any data on the phone is destroyed. Circuit boards are separated into gold, silver and copper to be used in jewelry, electronics or currency.
Airport security, buses and subways, airplanes, taxis–all these areas are prime spots to lose your phone. The worst location to have your phone go missing is the swimming pool, which has a 50% to 75% chance of recovery–but your sopping-wet phone, even if retrieved, has less than a 5% chance of ever working again.
According to an infographic from Kensington, shared by ReadWrite, only 7 percent of the 70 million smartphones that are lost each year are ever recovered. Of those stolen phones, 57 percent are left unprotected by mobile security features.
Only a Small Percentage of Cell Phones Are Recycled
Patrick Sinclair, Founder and Tech Blogger at All Home Robotics said “Although virtually 100% of phones are reusable and recyclable, only a mere 15% percent is actually currently recycled in the US.” The number phones discarded each year is close to 150 million.
Two of the most common reasons are that the device still has data on it, or will occasionally get used. But Associate Professor Dayna Simpson, who led a Monash University study into why we throw these things away, says there's a bit more to it than that.
Landfills: According to a study by National Geographic, plastic phone cases make up a significant portion of the plastic waste that ends up in landfills. The study estimates that approximately 7.7 billion plastic phone cases are discarded in landfills every year.
In Australia, we recycle 55% of all the waste collected from households, businesses and construction and demolition. There are around 100 Material Recovery Facilities operating in Australia which separate out the different materials for recycling. If it all went to landfill, running these facilities would be pointless.
Amid all the bad news stories we hear in the media, you would be forgiven for believing all our waste, including what goes in the recycling bin, goes straight to landfill. But the latest waste report shows 63% of Australia's waste is recovered and used again.
As a result, the amount of e-waste generated by discarding obsolete electronics is the world's fastest–growing waste stream.