sustainable development at Sony Mobile phone France

Billion mobile phone made globally every year but fewer than 1 percent are recycled, experts say, noting that billions of euros could be saved if consumers go green. “Sometimes the size of a mobile phone is deceiving for the perception of the affect it does to the global environment,” said Sprint Nextel VP of product, Mr.Fared Adib. The value of the materials in each mobile phone device is also often underestimated. A typical mobile phone weighing less than one hundred fifty GM contains valuable material such as silver, gold, other Metals and rare minerals—highly sought after elements critical in high technology manufacturing. “Given today’s low collection and recycling rates, nearly all of this material is lost,” said the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a research institute. In Europe alone, one hundred sixty million discarded mobile phones result in a loss of about $500 million every year, it said in a report. Bertrand Villie, who is in charge of sustainable development at Sony Mobile phone France, confirmed the trend. “Very few person their mobile phones back, unless they are defective. We have tried to stimulate this, but rates of returns are very low,” he said. Analysts argue that there is a strong economic case for recycling and reuse, not to mention an environmental one. If the most reusable components such as the digital camera, display and battery and charger were stripped out, and used in the production of new devices, the costs of remanufacturing lowest cost mobile phones could be slashed by 50 percent.

percent collection rate for reuse and re-manufacturing, the industry could save over $2 billion on material and $160 million on energy price every year in Europe alone. While some mobile phones are indeed at the end of their life cycle and need to be scrapped completely and recycled, many others can be re-used. A movement is now underway to push for greater re-use. Sprint Nextel has formed an alliance with three other firms in the industry to get more people to bring their old mobile phones back for refurbishing, so that others who may not be able to afford brand new mobile phones, can reuse them. “This is an opportunity for a product that is out of reach to some, that costs maybe $ 4oo to $ 5oo. We’re taking these products and putting them in emerging markets” where technology remains scarce, said Adib. Besides offering a financial incentive to consumers, the group called Device Renewal Forum is starting certification standard for refurbished mobile phones that ensures that only properly functioning devices reenter the market. “The biggest use of recycling is reuse—to use it until it’s functionally obsolete rather than perceptively obsolete,” stressed David Edmondson, chief executive of eRecyclingCorps, a founding member of the forum.