Across the ditch in Australia, it’s illegal to dump e-waste in landfills.
Kate Hall is one of New Zealand Herald’s lifestyle contributors. Based in Auckland she covers sustainable and conscious living and ethical consumerism.
OPINION
There are hidden dangers in improperly disposing of your old phone, explains Kate Hall (Ethically Kate), and it can impact the environment.
Your old phone does not belong in the rubbish. It may be tempting to hoof your broken device into the magic bin that gets emptied every week, but this out-of-sight, out-of-mind, mentality is wasteful and dangerous. Here’s what you should do instead.
What should you do with a broken phone?
Keep it. Repair then recycle your phone.
Do everything within your power to fix your phone so it lives for longer.
Get the screen replaced.
Keep it in a case.
Clean it regularly.
And don’t ever put it on top of your car.
I realise the price of fixing a phone can sometimes cost more than a new one, but until the Right to Repair bill comes into play and hopefully makes repairing all items easier and cheaper, we must try our best to repair before recycling.
We must try our best to repair our old phones before recycling. Photo / 123rf
If repairing your phone is too expensive or not feasible, find a tech recycling solution.
Tech is made from precious metals and hazardous minerals that can be used again or at worst, must be disposed of responsibly.
Your local recycling centre is likely to accept your phone as well as old cables, laptops, modems, smartphones, tablets, printers, and computers.
We’re lucky in Aotearoa New Zealand to have many tech collection sites around the country too. Recycle A Device accepts computers younger than 10 years old and places like Sustainability Trust (Wellington), Echo (Auckland), and EcoCentral (Christchurch) will accept most types of e-waste, including your phone.
Your phone may be restored again and repurposed, used for parts, or recycled.
If you’re worried about sharing your data when passing over an old phone that crashed before you had a chance to erase what was on it, rest assured that tech recycling companies have confidential data destruction systems. Your contacts and your selfies will not be leaked.
But what would actually happen if I put my phone in the bin?
If you don’t ensure your old phone ends up at a recycling or repurposing depot instead of landfill, you’re not only wasting valuable metals and resources that could have a second life; you’re risking the health of our planet and community.
Lithium batteries, most often found in your cellphone and laptop, can overheat and cause fires that pollute the environment with toxic fumes and put waste management personnel at risk.
Other toxic substances found in phones, like lead, mercury and cadmium, cause environmental health risks to humans and wildlife when disposed of irresponsibly as they can leach into our soil and groundwater.
We need to think carefully before buying a new phone. Photo / 123rf
Why does it feel like I’m always buying a new phone?
“They don’t make them like they used to” is the truest thing your grandmother ever said. Not that she had a cellphone addiction like the rest of us, but these words ring incredibly true when referring to technology.
Planned and perceived obsolescence are challenging our pockets and the planet.
Planned obsolescence, a technique used by sneaky companies to ensure you always come back to spend more money, involves creating products with strategically shorter lifespans so the tech will be outdated quickly or the product will break within a few years.
Perceived obsolescence describes the envious feeling that rises up inside of you when you see your friend has the latest model. Your phone may work perfectly fine, but now that the advertisements are showing on your social media feed every five posts and your friend’s new phone is slightly slicker than yours… you want a new one.
Humans are vain creatures; we want to keep up and we’re easily tempted with clever marketing advertisements that tell us life just won’t be complete without the latest piece of technology.
First and foremost, we need to think carefully before buying a new phone.
These are helpful questions to ask yourself before you spend money on a new phone that you may not need.
Secondly, where should I buy it?
Refurbished phones are readily available from either the company directly (they’ll often list them as seconds or returns) or our main tech organisations like Dick Smith and PBTech. Second-hand phones are also a cheap and accessible option - when done with thorough investigation.
No one is going to give up their cellphone any time soon, so we must get better at sustainable custodianship of our devices. Start by caring for your phone thoughtfully throughout its lifetime, dispose of it responsibly when you’re finished with it, and strategically purchase a quality, long-lasting phone to replace it.
