China is facing mobile recycling disaster
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 - 10:11:15
Each year in China an estimated 80 million mobile devices are being discarded and the vast majority are not being dealt with in a sustainable way, according to UPI.
As a result, the world’s most populous nation is facing a huge problem, since without mobile phone recycling being promoted as a good idea, the unwanted electronics are posing a significant hazard to the environment.
The thing which exacerbates the situation further is the fact that China’s mobile culture also suffers from a much faster churn rate than other countries, meaning that the majority of consumers use a handset for as little as 8 months to a year before upgrading. And with handsets simply ending up in the bin and then in landfill sites, experts warn that this is having a poisonous impact on the ecosystem.
On average, China is well behind the rest of the world when it comes to recycling. And the used mobile market is minimal, meaning that most people do not have the option or compulsion to resell their old devices once they have decided to upgrade. So these gadgets get mixed in with general waste and the precious materials and dangerous substances they contain are not properly processed.
Environmental campaigners argue that a single, rechargeable mobile battery can poison almost 16,000 gallons of water, which is why the 80 million devices being thrown away in China each year cannot be ignored.
The lack of any kind of mobile phone recycling infrastructure is an additional hindrance in China. But experts are hoping that the rise in popularity of smartphones and the growing middle class will help to create one in the near future, making recycling a viable option and stemming the flow of e-waste into places that are inappropriate for dumping.
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