Current mobile contracts damaging the environment, research finds
Sunday, June 7, 2015 - 14:30
in Earth & Climate
Researchers analyzed studies on the lifespan of mobile devices, from manufacture, use and disposal to see what impact each stage had on the environment. Through their investigation, they concluded that the current mobile business model, driven by frequent upgrades, is costing both the manufacturer and the environment. The study argues that where frequent upgrades are encouraged and recycling schemes not actively pursued, valuable materials integral to phone manufacture are lost, causing damage to the environment by additional waste to landfill as well as from the impact of extracting additional finite resources.