Anna Vance*, Program on the Environment, University of Washington Site Supervisor: Terri Butler, Executive Director, Sustainable Seattle

tle Faculty Advisor: Francesca Lo, Director, Husky Leadership Initiative, University of Washington

The Current State of e-Waste: Cell Phones in Seattle
1. BACKGROUND: WHY CARE?

Our increasing purchases, usage, and
retirement of cell phones has produced a
concerning amount of e-wastenationally, we
have accumulated an estimated 747 million retired
units in our households. In 2010, the United States
disposed of 19.5 thousand tons of mobile phones,
but only 11% were recycled
.

While most people know that improper cell
phone disposal leads to environmental degradation
and health hazards, not much else is known in the
public sphere.
2. METHODS & INTERNSHIP

My internship at Sustainable Seattle consisted of
two parts:

2.1 Polling Seattle residents
I randomly surveyed fifty Seattle residents about
their habits, attitudes, and knowledge of cell phone
disposal and analyzed the results.

2.2 Conducting a literature review
I interviewed local e-waste facilities and
referenced academic, scholarly, and government
sources to see where official knowledge on cell
phone waste stands. I used informal sources like
popular media and blogs to see where public,
common knowledge stands.
From this I compiled a summary of cell phone
life cycles from environmental, social, and
economic perspectives.
3. RESULTS & DISCUSSION

3.1 POLLING
































3.2 LITERATURE REVIEW
3.2.1 ENVIRONMENT
Improper cell phone disposal can leach toxic materials from the phone into the
ecosystemthe materials are spread via wind and water currents and biota uptake.
Improper recycling, which uses open burning and acid-leaching, also pollutes the
environment. Increasing cell phone usage periods and recycling can help prevent
environmental degradation.
3.2.2 SOCIAL
Circuit boards used in cell phones contain metals like gold and tantalum. These are
conflict metals which are minerals whose profits are used to fund civil wars and
violence against citizens in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSIONS

My polling of Seattle residentsthe results of which
are applicable to a broad scaleand literature
review point out the nuances of cell phone disposal
on which to focus our efforts.

Industry-level Actions:
Simplify and clarify current disposal programs
to be more accessible to individuals
Work on more effective outreach
Use successful disposal programs as models
(i.e. Californias ban 27% recycling rate)

Individual-level Actions:
Dispose phones at collection bins found in
retail stores like Bartell Drugs and Best Buy
Mail in cell phones to organizations that have
prepaid shipping labels, like 911 Cell Phone
Bank and Cell Phones for Soldiers
0
2
4
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10
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0123456789
1
0
+
#

R
e
s
p
o
n
s
e
s

# Cell Phones Owned
Variation in Numbers of Cell Phones
Owned in Last Five Years
Reasons for Cell Phone Disposal
Choice: Not Recycling
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
WHAT DO WE, IN SEATTLE, KNOW ABOUT CELL PHONE DISPOSAL?
WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED TO LEARN ABOUT IT?
Did You Know?
Mobile devices make up
about 40% of our total e-waste
Did You Know?
Recycling a cell phone can
recover $1 worth of metals
9

Retired cell phones in Ohio recycling facility
3. RESULTS & DISCUSSION (CONT.)

3.2.3 ECONOMIC
The United States economic system
pushes consumerism. For example, switching
service providers forces individuals to buy new
phones because of differences in cell phone
language. This is not always the case in other
countries.
Infrastructural changes can help reduce
cell phone waste, as can individual-level
actions like recycling.

3.3 META-ANALYSIS
Cell phone disposal is a vague industry. Within
the industry and academic work, there seems to be
miscommunication about actual recycling
processes.
Information about partnerships, programs, and
green certification standards are difficult for
individuals to find and understand. Those looking for
disposal programs will likely experience confusion
and frustrationwebsites are often unprofessionally
formatted, not user-friendly, lead to dead links, and
contain repetitive or vague material.
Chart 1. Results of polling question about current
Seattleite cell phone habits: how many cell phones
have you owned in the past five years, including the
one you own now?
Intended to
recycle but
havent yet
58%

Chart 2. Results of polling question about current
Seattleite attitudes regarding cell phone disposal
and disposal choices
Over 50% of retired phones were disposed of
improperly (Chart 2)the majority remained in
household limbo. One reason for this is that people
intended to recycle their phones but did not,
which indicates that while individuals were
environmentally-inclined, something prevented
them from following through with corresponding
action. My theory is that current recycling programs
are difficult to navigate, and thus take too much
time and/or effort, but people are unaware or
unwilling to admit so. A significant portion of
individuals were unaware of recycling opportunities.
Making recycling programs more accessible
would address both issues and could increase
recycling rates.
Unaware of
recycling
opportunities
38%

Recycling
facilities
too far
4%
Recycling
takes too
much time
and/or
effort
0%
While Seattles recycling habits
are similar to that of the nation, my
polling (Chart 1) reveals further detail about
turnover rates for single cell phone units:

Average turnover: 17.4 months
Most common turnover: 30 months

About 45% of these purchases were unnecessary,
occurring when the old phone was still functional.
These facts indicate a need for education
and outreach geared toward frequent cell phone
purchasers to rethink their consumption habits.