Phones get mobile to save the planet

Less than two years after arriving fresh from the factory, the average New Zealander's cellphone will be back on a ship to Singapore to be crushed and incinerated.

The mobile phone is about as shortlived as a pair of plastic shoes, and as much of a fashion item.

At an average price of $250, the nation's 2.6 million cellphones are worth about $650 million.

Nokia spokesman Lane Stephens says New Zealanders replace their mobile phones, on average, every 18 to 24 months.

"More often than not, these old mobiles lie around in the bottom of drawers," he says.

In some developed countries, older models are shipped to poorer countries and used again. In Australia, the Mobile Telecommunications Association runs a joint scheme to recycle old phones.

The Information Technology Association of New Zealand tried to set up a similar scheme two years ago, but in the end the two main operators, Telecom and Vodafone, set up separate systems. Both have recycling bins in some of their shops, and both send them to a Singapore recycling plant called Citiraya.

Telecom environmental manager Christine Turner says phones that come back to stores in good condition are used as temporary replacements for customers who bring their phones in for repair, or are sold overseas.

If they are not good enough, they go to Citiraya.

"At Citiraya, the components are crushed, incinerated, then followed by a process called ball milling," she says.

"Ball milling turns the disposed mobiles to powder, which is separated into metals and non-metals. The metal is melted back into a pure form and sold as byproducts, whereas non-metals are recycled back to low-end byproducts."

Both Telecom and Vodafone accept all cellphones for recycling, but no money changes hands. As Mr Stephens says: "The programme is non-profit and the main objective is to ensure that old mobile phone equipment does not end up in landfills, potentially causing environmental damage."