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Environment, Energy and Transportation Program

Cellphones and Waste Disposal

October 2002

By Cheryl Runyon

The New York Times reported on October 8 that cellphone use in the United States has mushroomed from 340,000 subscribers in 1985 to 128 million users in 2001. As a result, old cellphones are being discarded, generating a huge amount of waste. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funded a study by Inform (an environmental organization), which has issued a report about old phones.

By 2005, 130 million cellphones will be discarded each year, according to the group. Counting the phones, batteries and chargers, an additional 65,000 tons of waste per year will go to landfills or incinerators. Of greater concern are the chemicals found in the phones and accessories and their accumulation in the soil and groundwater.

The cellphone disposal problem is universal; more than 1 billion cellphones are used worldwide. Japan and several European countries are urging manufacturers to eliminate toxic chemicals during production. Inform recommends "take back" programs that would offer discounts on new phones or phone service in exchange for returned equipment. "If producers have to take back their cellphones, they have an incentive to make products that generate less waste and are easier to recycle," suggests Bette Fishbein, an economist and the study's lead author.

Some companie--including Verizon and Sprint--already have take back programs, but the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, the main industry group, opposes mandatory programs, preferring that older phones be donated to charities or resold in less-developed countries. The EPA is working with Inform on a follow-up study to examine the effectiveness of reusing and recycling telephones.

Meanwhile, Maryland has developed a state-financed program to collect used phones for recycling and reprogramming. The phones are given to elderly individuals for use in emergencies.

Solid Waste Management page