March 20, 2005
Money Wins Over Environment In Mobile-Phone Disposal
A study released Friday showed that less than 1 out of 10 U.S. consumers considered the environmental impact of tossing away the old phone, reports TechWeb.
"U.S. consumers' attitudes toward the environment has a huge impact, considering that Americans throw away about 100 million cellular phones a year, which amounts to 50,000 tons of waste, according to Inform Inc., an independent research group that examines the effects of business practices on the environment.
On average, consumers in the U.S. and many other countries upgrade their phones every 18 months; yet wireless carriers in the U.S. have done little to make the public aware of how to recycle their old phones.
Similar to computer and other electronic devices, cellular phones contain heavy metals and poisons, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, that are proven to cause cancer and birth defects. The toxins are released into the environment when phones are dumped in landfills or burned in incinerators."
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