To date, smartphones made from 100% recycled materials do not exist. What does exist are manufacturers slowly moving away from the linear model of sourcing, towards sustainable and recycled materials.
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Apple is on a mission to use 100% recycled cobalt batteries by 2025. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 are made with post-consumer recycled plastic and glass. As the use of recycled materials becomes widely accepted as one of the solutions for building sustainable products, companies are finding ways to utilize these materials to reduce their dependence on raw resources. Even so, a phone that is made with 100% recycled materials has yet to reach the market. So, what’s stopping brands from recycling more to reduce their carbon footprint? And, as consumers, what can we do about it?
The Problems With Sourcing Raw Materials
Did you know that there are up to 60 different metals in your cell phone? For decades, raw resources including cobalt, copper, nickel, lithium, and aluminum, have been extracted from the earth to manufacture parts for cell phones. As the demand for phones has increased, reaching a high of approximately 1.39 billion sold in 2022, so too have the quantities of metals mined. According to the World Economic Forum, the world mined around 2.8 billion tons of metals in 2021. Of those raw resources used and phones produced, an estimated 40% or 151 million mobile phones become landfill waste yearly. Other research suggests that the number could be even higher, with 5 billion phones becoming e-waste in 2022.
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This linear model of take, create, and waste is unsustainable because the earth has finite resources. And, extracting and manufacturing these resources has negative impacts. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the extraction of the raw materials used to make cell phones has a negative impact on our air, land, water, plant, and wildlife.
- Manufacturing cell phones emits 146 million tons of CO2.
- Copper, the 3rd most consumed metal in the world, has an extraction process that is known to pollute local water resources. For every 1 ton of copper extracted, 99 tons of waste material must be removed.
- Lithium mines have been linked to toxic chemicals polluting the water resources of local communities and have resulted in the death of fish populations, livestock, and crops.
Obstacles Sourcing Recycled Materials
Knowing the impacts of the current economic model doesn’t mean that change will happen overnight. Progress isn’t linear. There are challenges to developing a new system of resources, suppliers, and even manufacturing facilities for these materials.
According to Steven Athwal, Managing Director, The Big Phone Store, an electronic retailer since 1999, one major roadblock is the limitations of finding recycled materials. “Some metals and plastics, as well as materials that have undergone a chemical change during the manufacturing process, are difficult if not impossible to recover from waste products with our current technology.”
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Steven also explains that even when available the cost and quality of these resources might not be worse as well. “If raw materials are cheaper to mine than recycle, there is a strong financial incentive for manufacturers to use so-called ‘virgin’ resources rather than recycled ones.” He also points out that the technology isn’t quite there yet to ensure that expected quality standards are met when it comes to recycled materials. “With our current recycling capabilities, recycled materials might not match the quality and performance of virgin materials, which can impact the device’s durability and overall performance.”
What’s Available Now?
To date, smartphones made from 100% recycled materials do not exist. What does exist are manufacturers slowly moving away from the linear model of sourcing, towards sustainable and recycled materials.
- iPhone 14 Pro is made with 100% recycled gold and elements in the magnets and is packaged in recycled and responsible materials.
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 are made with pre-consumer recycled aluminum, plastic (10%), and glass (22%) and packaged in a box made from 100% recycled paper materials.
- TeraCube 2E is made from 25% recycled polycarbonate and comes in a biodegradable phone case.
What Can We Do As Consumers?
The 100% recycled phone might not exist today. But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t steps we can take as consumers to shop slowly, recycle better, and reduce waste.
Slow Down: Steven suggests, “Repairing phones when they break rather than replacing them. This might mean buying phones that are built with ease of repair in mind.” Buying phones to hold onto for a longer period of time instead of swapping in for a new phone can reduce waste and our reliance on new materials.
Buy Refurbished: These phones are second-hand and have been restored and tested by experts to perform at either ‘new’ or ‘like new’ condition. Retailers like Best Buy and Back Market offer refurbished phones that have been.
Donate: Give your phone to someone who might need it. Organizations like Goodwill or the Salvation Army accept working phones. Go online to schedule a pickup or find a drop-off location near you.
Recycle: Never throw your phone into the trash. Instead, use sites like Call2Recycle or Earth 911 to find drop-off locations where you can recycle your old phones.