What’s a smartphone made of? - Kim Preshoff

Summary

The world’s 2.5 billion smartphone users hold a hidden treasure in their devices, containing valuable materials like gold, silver, and copper. However, the process of extracting these elements has severe environmental and social consequences, from destructive mining practices to toxic e-waste. Rare earth metals, essential for modern technology, are particularly challenging to obtain sustainably. As smartphone usage continues to grow, reclaiming these materials through recycling and responsible disposal is becoming increasingly necessary. Yet, even recycling efforts are tainted by poor labor conditions and environmental harm, making it clear that sustainable smartphone production is still a distant goal.

Takeaways

• 😀 There are around 2.5 billion smartphone users worldwide as of 2018, contributing to a significant amount of valuable metals like gold, silver, and copper in phones.
• 😀 Smartphones are made up of around 70 chemical elements, including rare earth elements and precious metals.
• 😀 Rare earth elements are common in the Earth’s crust but are found in low concentrations, making them difficult to extract economically.
• 😀 These rare earth elements are essential for the functionality of smartphones, contributing to features like screens, color displays, and vibration.
• 😀 The extraction of rare earth elements and metals like copper, silver, and gold causes severe environmental impacts, including habitat destruction and pollution.
• 😀 Open pit mining, a method used to extract rare earth elements, has harmful environmental effects, including water and air pollution.
• 😀 Smartphone production contributes to significant social and environmental problems, such as poor working conditions and large-scale displacement of communities.
• 😀 The resources required to manufacture smartphones are finite, and there is no effective replacement for some of the critical materials.
• 😀 By 2019, it was predicted that the number of smartphones in use would reach nearly 3 billion, highlighting the increasing demand for resources.
• 😀 Recycling old phones and donating them for reuse can help minimize waste, but e-waste recycling also comes with its own set of environmental and social issues.
• 😀 E-waste often ends up in countries with cheap labor and poor working conditions, where workers (including women and children) are exposed to hazardous materials like lead and mercury.

Q & A

How many smartphone users were there globally as of 2018?

As of 2018, there were around 2.5 billion smartphone users in the world.

What precious metals are commonly found in smartphones?

Smartphones contain gold, silver, copper, and other metals like palladium, aluminum, platinum, tungsten, tin, and lead.

What are rare earth elements and why are they important in smartphones?

Rare earth elements are 17 elements found in Earth's crust, crucial for modern technology due to their magnetic, phosphorescent, and conductive properties. In smartphones, they contribute to the screen, color display, conductivity, and vibration functions.

What environmental impacts are linked to extracting rare earth elements?

Extracting rare earth elements often involves open pit mining, which destroys natural habitats, causes air and water pollution, and threatens nearby communities' health.

What social issues are associated with the mining of materials used in smartphones?

Mining for smartphone materials can lead to large-scale human and animal displacement, poor working conditions, and exploitation of labor, often in developing countries.

What is the role of petroleum in smartphone production?

Petroleum is a key material in smartphone production, contributing to climate change and intertwining smartphones with the growing planetary conundrum of fossil fuel dependence.

Why is the increasing number of smartphones becoming a concern?

As the number of smartphones rises, the demand for the finite resources used in their production increases, exacerbating environmental issues and making resource depletion a growing concern.

What are the options for responsibly disposing of old smartphones?

You can donate old phones to charity, take them to an e-waste recycling facility, or find a company that refurbishes old models.

What problems exist with e-waste recycling?

E-waste recycling often involves exporting phones to countries with cheap labor, where workers, including women and children, face poor working conditions and exposure to toxic substances like lead and mercury.

What happens to phone waste in dump sites?

Phone waste in dump sites can leach toxic chemicals into the soil and water, mimicking the environmental damage caused by the original mining of these materials.