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< Esato Forum Index > General discussions > General > Now we may have to recycle our phones when we are done with them. Bookmark topic

You can read about it here. It's interesting.

And for the WAP'ers:


California's District Assembly member, Fran Pavley has introduced legislation requiring cell phone retailers to take back obsolete cell phones at no cost to the consumer and to provide for their recycling.

"Almost 45,000 cell phones are thrown away every day in California – either into a drawer somewhere or worse, into the trash," said Pavley. "Their circuit boards contain myriad toxins such as arsenic, lead and mercury, many of which are Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxin (PBTs), and have the potential to be released into the air and groundwater when burned in incinerators or disposed of in landfills. That's a serious threat to human health and our environment and we need to provide a real alternative."

Assembly Bill 2901 requires retailers of cell phones to have a plan in place to ensure a cost-free and convenient system of ensuring that all cell phones are recycled or refurbished and reused and do not end up in the waste stream. The bill also requires manufacturers of cell phones to report to the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) on the hazardous materials contained in their products and a plan for phasing them out, as well as providing information to consumers on where and how to recycle their products.

Mark Murray, Executive Director of Californians Against Waste, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization and sponsor of the new bill, said that the growth of the cell phone market "has raised a red flag for environmentalists. In the U.S., cell phone use has surged from 340,000 subscribers in 1985 to over 150 million last year. The average life of a cell phone is about 18 months, meaning that 130 million cell phones become obsolete every year and that, by the end of next year, about 500 million discarded cell phones will be stockpiled in U.S. homes or disposed of in landfills."

"The truth is that up to 75 percent of those phones are stockpiled because people don't have any information about what to do with them, and probably don't know how much hazardous material their phones contain," said Pavley. "I think it is appropriate that retailers who are reaping the benefits from the rapid turnover of their products don't place the burden of dealing with the millions of discards on taxpayers.

"Many service providers have voluntarily implemented recycling programs by collaborating with third party recyclers," Pavley continued. "Unfortunately, these programs collect less than five percent of the obsolete phones. My bill will nicely dovetail with and enhance these existing programs."

"Our goal is nothing less than recycling 100 percent of discarded cell phones and the phase out of the hazardous materials they presently contain," Murray added.


Taken from Cellular News, Thursday 26th February 2004

Ethan
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Posted: 2004-02-26 17:32:39
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this explains why it says, "after rebate with trade in" on the cingular website. screw that!
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Posted: 2004-02-27 08:39:16
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