Project aims to highlight the importance of mobile phone recycling
Wednesday, June 12, 2013 - 11:03:44
The Great Recovery Project has been running since last September and this month a report on its progress has been published, highlighting how successful it has been in its attempts to raise awareness about the relevance of mobile phone recycling and the dangers posed by e-waste.
The initiative basically runs workshops in which attendees are introduced to the concept of product teardowns, showing them the difficulties which are faced when it comes to repurposing the materials and components that are housed within modern mobile handsets.
The workshops are aimed at device designers in an attempt to get them to think more carefully about the end of a product's life, when they are still working on the initial plans.
Organisers hope that this will lead to many more sustainable gadgets in the future, which can easily be broken down and recycled, rather than posing a threat to the environment.
The report on the project found that 80 percent of the eco-impact of a gadget is solidified during the very early stages of its design, which means it is impossible to make amendments later on which might help make it a bit greener.
This should be a real wakeup call for designers, since they can no longer be complacent about environmental concerns and should, instead, keep them at the top of the agenda from day one.
The recyclability of electronics devices like smartphones is very important, since millions of people in the UK and billions worldwide throw away such gadgets each year, many of which do not end up recycled or reused.
If it is easier for this to occur and there is a greater awareness of the responsibilities that fall to both device designers and consumers, then improvements can be made.
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