The Smartphone E-Waste Epidemic [Infographic]

 

Find out why the growing e-waste numbers are a concern and what to do about it.

What is E-Waste and why you should be concerned about putting a lid on the growing E-Waste numbers.

Smartphone-E-Waste-Epidemic-Recycling-Image

 

Click here to see the large version

 

1. Smart Phone Numbers

Smartphone usage is on a rapid rise – 163 million smartphones in the US itself.

1.7 billion Smart Phone users in the world and the number will touch 2 billion by 2016

Average person has 5 devices that connect to the internet (phones, laptops, tablets, e-readers etc.) and there are 24 devices in an average household.

2. But I don’t Use It That Much

An average person spends 195 minutes on the phone per day. Which comes down to a total of 2471 days over a lifetime (considering 50 years of daily usage).

That’s a whopping 6.7 years of your life spent on the phone.

3. Life Cycle of a Phone

Americans change their cell phones every 18.2 months which is the third fastest change cycle in the world.…

…and that number is slowly dwindling (22 months in in 2011, 21.7 in 2013).

Old phones become a part of….

4. Electronic Waste

50 million tons of electronic waste (e-waste) is generated each year. A major part of which comes from:

  • 57 million phones in US dumped every year
  • 30 million phones in UK dumped every year

70% all this waste goes directly into landfills.

30% of all waste in the landfill comes from e-waste.

5. Why Should You Care?

Here’s why….

E-waste contains toxic substances (mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic) that are lethal. Even after slow burning they change form but never completely disappear.

6. Irreversible Damage To Humans

These toxic elements can lead to health hazards like:

  • Permanent Neurological Damage (Diminished IQ)
  • Reproductive Disorder (Miscarriages)
  • Cancer

..and the damage isn’t limited to humans. It also affects the environment in a negative way.

7. Environmental Damage

  • Toxic Landfill Build Up
  • Groundwater pollution
  • Waste of energy
  • Lost resources ($60 million per year)

8. The Solution – Recycle E-Waste

With a staggering amount of e-waste being produced globally – 50 million tons/year – only 25% of it is being recycled. The rest 75% still ends up in landmines making the land and surrounding area unsafe.

Recycling is the correct way to go about dumping electronic waste. All your data is erased before recycling.

The next time you think of taking the easy way out and throw your mobile (or any other device) in the trash, think again.

Resources:

1. https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/social-digital-mobile-around-the-world-january-2014

2. https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Continues-Steal-Share-of-US-Adults-Daily-Time-Spent-with-Media/1010782

3. https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/crazy-e-waste-statistics-explored-in-infographic.html

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