electronic recycling

- Ive just been looking at existing mobile phone recycling programs. They are widely available, but as mim i think said, only 2% of phones are actually being placed in these recycling programs...

"Call Scope on 1800 815 768 and we will send you a free-post mobile phone satchel, so you can send your phone to be recycled. If you are an organisation we can provide a collection box, free-post satchels or point of sale satchel dispensers.
YOU CAN RECYCLE:- broken, damaged or dead mobile phones- used, secondhand or old mobile phones" - http://www.mobilephonerecyclingvic.com.au/

- In Australia, more than 40 per cent, or over eight million people, own a mobile phone and exchange it on average every 18 – 24 months. This obviously represents a high proportion of waste, yet what is not widely known is those mobile handsets, including batteries and accessories, are recyclable through the Mobile Phone Industry Recycling Program.
- Melbourne-based MRI (specialists in waste management including office and telecommunications equipment) are engaged by AMTA to collect mobile phones, batteries and accessories and are currently collecting from more than 700 participating stores throughout Australia.
- Societe Nouvelle D’Affinage Des Métaux (SNAM) currently manages the specialist bath smelting procedure that is the basis of the recycling process for nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride batteries and Pasminco processes lead acid batteries in Australia.
- The batteries are ground into small pieces and fed into a special furnace, which is able to process the material at rates of up to 170kg an hour.
- The batteries are then burned at 1200 degrees Celsius, which consumes the plastic and allows the various metals to be collected and cooled.
- Marketable products from the recycling process include:
NICKEL - used in the production of stainless steel;
CADMIUM - a component used in new batteries;
PLASTICS– used in furniture; and
Small amounts of gold and copper.
- This recycling process is highly efficient, has high productivity and provides a complete breakdown of chemical compounds. It is suitable for all phones and batteries, including the newer Lithium Ion and Nickel-Metal Hydride types.
- The recycling process is also successful in preventing the reformation of environmentally damaging compounds such as dioxins and furans in the exhaust gas stream.
- Mobile phone handsets and accessories are stored until the completion of a planned MRI processing facility that will ensure that close to 100 per cent of the components in these items are recycled.
- Since the program's initial NSW trial and national launch in 1999, approximately 30 tonnes (or enough to fill a small suburban house) of mobile phones, batteries and accessories have been collected for recycling in Australia. The industry hopes to build on this success in the future.
http://www.amta.org.au/recycle/intro_recyc_how.htm

- some disturbing facts...
Copper
A desktop computer requires 1 kilo of copper, which if mined will result in 281 kilos of waste rock. 1 Recycling copper only requires 15-20% of the energy that is required to mine new ore and once processed you can’t distinguish between those that come from a primary source e.g. ore or secondary source e.g. recycled. Recyclables can contain ten times more copper and 50 times more gold than average mined ores.

Fossil Fuels
Sixteen hundred grams of fossil fuels and chemicals are needed to produce one, two gram microchip. Secondary materials used to produce this chip amount to 630 times the mass of the final product.
The majority of plastics used in high tech electronics originate with fossil fuels. 1

Number Crunching
It is estimated that there are more than 7.5 million televisions, 9 million computers, 5 million printers and 2 million scanners in use around Australia. It is further estimated that 2.1 million computers will enter the market this year (2006) resulting in more than 3 million computers becoming obsolete. Of the 3 million computers that have become obsolete, around 1.6 million will end up in landfill sites and 1.8 million will join the estimated 5.3 million already in storage. Sadly only around 500,000 will be recycled.2
These figures do not include the 2.5 million major appliances we discard each year.3

Mercury
Mercury found in flat panels, laptop screens and switches can contaminate with as little as 1/70th of a teaspoon, almost 20 acres of water to the point that fish are unsafe to eat. 2

Toners/Cartridges
It takes over 4 Litres of liquid petroleum to manufacturer a typical all in one toner. 4
1 TRIO. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and the automotive industry. Retrieved 16 August 2006 from http://www.cec.org/trio/stories/index.cfm?varlan=english&ed=4&ID=56
2 Firth, D. (2006). What to do with the techno Junk. The Australian, p.10. Printed Tuesday 13/06/2006
3 Zero Waste Brochure. Retrieved 16 August 2006 from http://www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/pdf/fact_sheets/e-waste.pdf
4 Cart Collect. (2006). FAQ. Retrieved 10 July, 2006 from http://www.cartcollect.com.au/main/faq.htm

from http://www.ecyclerecovery.com.au/did_you_know.htm