e-Waste: The Case of the Smartphones

Smartphones: electronics or waste?

Do you know where your first smartphone is? Our smartphones can pass from being one of our daily use electronics to be part of the mountain of electronic waste (e-waste). Global e-waste is rising at an alarming rate, amounting to approximately 62 million metric tons in 2022 [1]. Devices such as smartphones and tablets make up roughly 12% of this mountain of discarded electronics. The real issue? Only about 22% of e-waste is collected and properly recycled worldwide. The rest often ends up in landfills or gets burned, polluting the environment and putting nearby communities at risk. 

Global e-waste is rising at an alarming rate, amounting to approximately 62 million metric tons in 2022... Only about 22% of e-waste is collected and properly recycled worldwide.

Not surprisingly, richer countries have generated more e-waste. For example, Europe is the second-largest continent generator of e-waste per inhabitant with an average of 16.6 kg per inhabitant (kg/inh) behind Oceania with 17.3 kg/inh [2]. Unfortunately, the e-waste problem is being exported from industrialized countries and moving into more vulnerable regions. For instance, the e-waste can be disposed of in sites like Guiyu in China (the world’s largest e-waste dump!), Lagos in Nigeria or Agbogbloshie in Ghana [3, 4]. Hence, your e-waste is traveling around the world. 

Besides the environmental impact of electronics at the end of their lifecycle, do you know how many materials your smartphone needs to work? Let’s have a look inside a smartphone. Smartphone production involves the extraction of bulk and special metals (including gold!). Every time you use your smartphone to listen to music or send a message you are putting tantalum into action, which helps to improve the quality of the audio. Other examples are tin (the solder in every circuit board), tungsten (used in the screens) as well as cobalt and neodymium (which with the tungsten make our phones vibrate when a call comes in) [5, 6]. If this is not enough, could you believe that a mobile phone can contain around a third of the elements in the periodic table? [7, 8].

However, some elements important for the functionality of a mobile phone, are at futures risk to run out. To mention an example, the indium oxide and tin oxide that allow the touch screen functionality, can run out in 20 years, making it a rare and expensive element [8]. As mentioned above, some minerals are seen as conflict minerals or blood minerals. The latter is because their extraction is the principal cause of the prolonged war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Additionally, the primary metal production is energy and water-intensive and causes severe impacts such as pollution, toxicity and high carbon emissions, having a serious influence on climate change. That is why one of the biggest challenges for the smartphone industry is finding suitable replacements for many of these elements [5]. And also, device makers are challenged by the need to be sure they use conflict-free minerals and help local miners make a living without threats of extortion and violence [6].  

But who is responsible for the big amount of e-waste generated? If we think individually, one question we need to answer is: how frequently do you change your smartphone? You are probably concerned that your mobile phone will be outdated in a year or two, or maybe you just want a device with an updated camera. In numbers, consumers replace their smartphones on average every 18 to 24 months in Europe and the U.S. mainly because they want a newer device, and not because the device is broken or inoperable [9]. To contextualize, Apple alone sold 26.4 million units only in the first half of 2019 [10]. Given these data, it is valid to think that we have a problem of lacking conscientious consumers. Hence, changes in consumer behavior could make a significant difference directly to the people living near and working at mines or e-waste dumps, and importantly, to the global environment.

However, the problem is even more complex. Smartphone life-spans are shortening while the number of end-of-use mobile phones have increased faster. This is related to the device design as well as the software upgrade system. Because the companies are so smart(!), mobile phones now come to their end-of-life (EoL) due to several factors such as: their intrinsic technological design (which renders the current gadget obsolete), planned obsolescence (software updates that damage the performances of the devices), their high cost (or inability) to repair, or issues with software compatibility [2]. These factors create a need for the consumers to buy a new mobile even when they weren’t considering it. 

Mobile phones reach the end of their life due to factors like outdated technology, planned obsolescence, high repair costs, and software compatibility issues

Key Facts About e-Waste. © eAgua.

So, who is regulating this situation?... There are already some regulations that focus on the creation of collection schemes including reuse and recycling and the banning of importing e-waste and hazardous waste, nevertheless, there is also illegal e-waste smuggling occurring [11]. Hence, it's clear that robust multi-stakeholder initiatives are needed.

A journey for responsible production and consumption. What can we do?

Relevant to the e-waste issue is to mention the Goal #12 of the Sustainable Development Goals established in the UN’s global Agenda 2030 which focuses on ensuring sustainable and responsible production and consumption patterns, and also mentions the prevention of waste through reuse and recycling [12]. How can the journey of a smartphone change with more responsible companies and consumers? 

The 'circular economy' paradigm is becoming increasingly relevant in the mobile phone sector. In a linear approach scenario your old/broken/obsolete smartphone is just thrown away to buy a new replacement. Whereas in the circular approach scenario, your broken equipment would be sent to a recycler. Alternatively, If your mobile phone was not damaged, you could send it for refurbishment or remanufacture, in that way it could be re-purchased by a new user. 

One of the main elements of the circular economy is the recycling process. The benefits of reuse and recycling lie in their potential to displace or avoid the new production of smartphones and minerals, nevertheless, for some people the rising global demand for many minerals will remain increasing regardless [13]. Additionally, for some companies the smartphone collection and recycling could never be done profitably, even if reverse logistics costs were to be minimized.

Electronic Waste (e-waste) Cycle. © eAgua.

Recycling issues The recycling rates of specialty metals used in mobile phones are less than 1% [2].  Base metals such as copper, steel, and aluminum are recovered efficiently because of the available recycling infrastructure, however, critical resources, including rare earth elements do not have very high recycling rates [2]. Many countries lack effective policies and proper infrastructure for e-waste management [5]. For some companies, material recycling is not financially viable. The recycling process also involves a consumption of energy and water (although it is less than all the raw material production).  There is a need for a more efficient recycling process.

Alternative schemes:   Increasing the collective awareness about the impacts involved in smartphone production and waste. Maintenance and repair: Careful use and preventive maintenance of phones. Some parts of a smartphone can be updated without throwing away all the device, for example the camera. Direct reuse and second hand: Phones are handed on or sold to family, friends, or charity, and acquired as second-hand devices. However, the resale values of reused mobiles decline quickly over time. Furthermore, demand for used devices varies strongly between mobile phone brand and model (be open mind!). Improvement of environmental criteria, including longevity, durability, upgradeability, repairability and design for strength, recycling and reuse.  Policy makers (local as well as global) need to facilitate the transition towards a more circular system and Improve overall e-waste collection [2]. Investment in countries that are impacted by e-waste and mining to create a safer working environment for waste workers, less environmental impact, and a more sustainable recycling industry [2].

The focus of the circular economy also allows to determine the companies/business responsibilities as well as citizen and government responsibilities with the environment and with respect for human rights. It is necessary to develop a scheme which involves all players including management, policies, business and users.

Not everything is bad: Current actions

To mention some examples of current actions, in 2010 multinationals stopped buying tin and tantalum ore from smelters that were unable to prove that their minerals did not fund conflict [14, 15]. Since 2014, Intel has set out a way for identifying the origins of mined minerals and has made efforts to develop microprocessors using conflict-free minerals [6]. Another example is Apple, Inc. that has a trade and resale scheme, and has developed a robot to recover some metals from used smartphones, however, as mentioned above, not all material can be recovered effectively. Nevertheless, Apple has now achieved that at least the solder of the main logic board of an iPhone to be made with 100 % recycled tin. Furthermore, most of the aluminum recovered from an iPhone has become part of the 100 % recycled aluminum of the MacBook Air, and the cobalt recovered from the iPhone´s battery is used to make brand-new batteries [10].

However, we could also consider other options rather than Apple and Samsung! For example Fairphone is a company which is trying to change the smartphone industry by designing for longevity, easy repair, and modular upgrades, while also sharing the information about their suppliers, processors and manufacturers involved in their supply chain. On the other hand, now you can find more second hand electronic shops, for example the most common and accessible would be eBay refurbished and used options, or local companies such as musicMagpie in the UK.

Conclusions

A smartphone has environmental impacts in terms of land, water, and energy-carbon emissions, and also involves social and economic issues including health hazards, human rights violation, and conflicts linked to the mining process. It is valid to say that the e-waste problem could be minimized by a change in infrastructure, a change in our consumer behavior and culture related to e-waste, and policies to regulate and articulate all the current and future efforts and actions.

We need to be thoughtful about what and why we buy as well as choosing a sustainable option whenever possible.

As smartphone users, ‘if we mobilize as consumers to claim for a responsible production we can influence telephonic companies like Apple, Samsung and Google to implement a circular economy in their chain production in order to reduce the amount of e-waste and at the same time reduce the mineral exploitation which has big social and environmental impacts.’ So remember, when you buy your new smartphone, be smart!

---

Sobre eAgua

Somos un grupo interdisciplinario de amantes del agua comprometidos en divulgar información científica. Desarrollamos proyectos creativos dedicados a sensibilizar, educar y “reconectar a la personas con el agua”. Ver más.

References

1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), UNITAR Scycle Programme, & Fondation Carmignac. (2024). The Global E-waste Monitor 2024. https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Environment/Pages/Publications/The-Global-E-waste-Monitor-2024.aspx?utm.com

2. Parajuly, K., Kuehr, R., Awasthi, A. K., Fitzpatrick, C., Lepawsky, J., Smith, E., Widmer, R., & Zeng, X. (2019). Future E-waste Scenarios. StEP Initiative, UNU ViE-SCYCLE & UNEP IETC. Retrieved from https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30809/FutEWSc.pdf?sequence=1

3. GreenCitizen. (2024, January 15). Global dumping. GreenCitizen. https://greencitizen.com/resources/global-dumping/

4. McElvaney, K. (2014, February 27). Agbogbloshie: the world's largest e-waste dump – in pictures. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2014/feb/27/agbogbloshie-worlds-largest-e-waste-dump-in-pictures

5. Rohrig, B. (2015, April/May). Smartphones, smart chemistry. ChemMatters, 33(2), 10–12. https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/archive/chemmatters-april2015-smartphones.pdf

6. Kaplan, K. (2014, July 21). Will you choose a conflict-free microprocessor for your next device? Quartz. https://qz.com/165860/will-you-choose-a-conflict-free-microprocessor-for-your-next-device

7. Jones, H. (2018, August 1). From cobalt to tungsten: how electric cars and smartphones are sparking a new kind of gold rush. Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-cobalt-tungsten-electric-cars-smartphones.html

8. United Nations. (2019, March 4). La ONU pide a los países que gestionen mejor los residuos electrónicos para proteger la salud y el medio ambiente. UN News. https://news.un.org/es/story/2019/03/1452711

9. ERI. (2018, February 13). The current state of global e-waste in 2018. ERI. https://eridirect.com/blog/2018/02/the-current-state-of-global-e-waste-in-2018/

10. Apple. (n.d.). Environment. Apple. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://www.apple.com/environment/

11. Toothman, J. (2008, June 4). How e-waste works. HowStuffWorks. https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/e-waste.htm

12. United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

13. Geyer, R., & Doctori Blass, V. (2010). The economics of cell phone reuse and recycling. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 47(5–8), 515–525. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-009-2228-z

14. Gettleman, J. (2013, October). The price of precious. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/conflict-minerals

15. Lubaba Nkulu, C. B., Casas, L., Haufroid, V., De Putter, T., Saenen, N. D., Kayembe-Kitenge, T., Obadia, P. M., Wa Mukoma, D. K., Lunda Ilunga, J.-M., Nawrot, T. S., Luboya Numbi, O., Smolders, E., & Nemery, B. (2018). Sustainability of artisanal mining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nature Sustainability, 1(9), 495–504. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0139-4