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Discarded Cell Phones

Posted by michael on from the nokias-as-far-as-the-eye-can-see dept.

psychictv points to a NYT story about discarded cell phones as an environmental hazard. The study mentioned in the article is available online. Every year or so we run a story on paper, disposable cell phones but even these would generate a fair amount of waste.

2 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Why can't people resell these? by King_TJ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't understand why so many people are tossing out their old cellphones in the first place?

    Every old cellphone I've ever owned, I was able to resell for at least $15 on eBay. (Often times, for much more than that!)

    People who don't want to be locked into 1 or 2 year long contracts often buy your "useless" old cellphones, so they can keep them in their vehicles as spares for emergencies.

  2. Coltan by Draxinusom · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is even more distressing when one considers that the capacitors in these discarded cellphones are made of an element (tantalum) with an incredibly high cost of extraction in terms of human suffering. The mining of Ta has exacerbated a war in the Congo (which has over 80% of the world's Ta reserves) that has killed more than three million people. See for example What is Coltan? A google search for coltan congo cell phones turns up more.