At the same time, 70-80% of the materials that make up the phone can be sent for recycling - these are ferrous and non-ferrous metals, which are suitable as secondary raw materials for production, and plastic. You can also extract a certain amount of gold and silver from an old mobile phone.

Law Russian Federation requires both enterprises and individuals to pay close attention to the disposal of household appliances - however, few people know about this. Thus, the Code of Administrative Offenses provides for penalties for those who send used equipment, including mobile phones, to a landfill, since such devices must be disposed of in a special way as they pose a potential danger.

Unfortunately, today only 3% of the population recycles their phones. Most people don't even realize how harmful it is to the environment to simply throw an old cell phone in the trash.

How to recycle your mobile phone

There are quite a lot of companies that accept mobile phones from the population for recycling, both abroad and in Russia.

Among them are many large manufacturers of electronic devices. They cannot ignore the increase in landfills of their products and the associated environmental problems, so almost every one of them is engaged in collecting used equipment. Thus, Nokia has opened collection points for its phones in more than 80 countries. Eco-boxes for collecting mobile phones installed by SAMSUNG are available in every major city. Trial projects were launched in Svyaznoy and Eldorado. You can just throw it away old phone into such a box and be sure that the device will be disposed of in the best possible way.

In addition to conscious electronics manufacturers, there are many other companies that open mobile phone collection or exchange points. Exchange promotions are often organized by electronics supermarkets. By paying extra, you can get a new one instead of your old one - however, it will most likely not be the best model.

You can also take your used phone to a recycling center. Many of these accept electronic devices, including mobile phones, for recycling.

The best place in our country to recycle mobile phones is in Moscow: there are more than 500 companies operating here that accept phones from the public.

In general, there are quite a lot of collection points in Russia where you can hand over your old mobile phone, and anyone can find such a point nearby if they wish. Better job for collection of spent cell phones is established in large cities, but it is always possible to find a collection point for electronics outside them.

Phone recycling technology

Actually recycling mobile phones- a labor-intensive process that requires a whole range of procedures. Simply disassembling the devices is not enough; certain rules and safety measures must be observed. Only companies where work in this area is organized at a high professional level can carry out proper disposal.

Recycling usually begins with sorting mobile phones. If an organization recycles mobile phones from a specific manufacturer - for example, Samsung's recycling division - sorting is not required.

If we are talking about a company engaged in different phones, mobile phones are sorted by manufacturer or other criteria.

Next comes the direct processing process. The correct approach to recycling cell phones involves manually disassembling outdated cell phones. In this case, some parts can be directly used for the manufacture of new devices, and the remaining plastic and metal parts are sent for recycling.

Thus, parts of mobile phones containing precious metals - printed circuit boards, connectors, circuits - are crushed into small pieces in several stages. After this, the resulting material enters a special sorting chamber, where pure precious metals are separated using chemical or mechanical methods.

Plastic cases are also shredded. Crushed plastic from mobile phones is commonly added to road surfaces.

Battery disposal

Batteries contain a large amount of toxic substances - acids, alkalis, arsenic, lead, mercury and others. Their disposal is carried out by specialized enterprises. These may be processing plants or landfills.

The lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery and its improved version, the lithium-polymer (lithium-ion polymer, Li-pol) battery, are most often used as energy sources in mobile phones.

About 80% of the materials from these batteries are recyclable. Recycling of a battery is carried out in several stages:

• the battery is opened and the contents are removed;
• wash away the electrolyte, which contains sodium salts;
• separate the anode plates from the cathode plates;
• aluminum and copper plates are sent for remelting;
• The plastic body is crushed and melted down, then it can be used as an additive for road surfaces.

Today, only a few highly specialized enterprises are engaged in recycling batteries in our country, primarily the battery manufacturers themselves.

The problem is that such processing is expensive and does not pay for itself through the sale of the resulting raw materials.

However, this applies to the process of disposal and recycling as a whole: it is unprofitable, so the problem must be solved at the state level. The situation could be improved by introducing monetary incentives for handing over phones for recycling and increasing the number of collection points for old devices.

Articles and Lifehacks

Our lives are constantly changing, and in order to keep up with these changes, we are forced to constantly rush: either like squirrels in a wheel, or like a flock of lemmings towards a cliff.

Nobody can say for sure today. And a mobile phone is one of the attributes of this race.

Before we had time to buy the coveted gadget of the latest model, it was already outdated. We are preparing money for a new one, denying ourselves simple everyday pleasures.

Meanwhile, the old tube is sent to the secondary market. And from there it goes straight to the landfill. Moreover, more than 3-4 years have rarely passed since the release of the model.

Such a quick change model range mobile devices leads to their life cycle turns out to be very short.

And ultimately, civilization is faced with the problem of recycling mobile phones, smartphones and other devices. Moreover, this problem is very relevant.

Why you need to recycle phones and smartphones

And the mobile phone doesn’t seem to take up that much space?

In fact, household appliances, and especially digital electronics, are one of the most unpleasant types of waste. Firstly, it is very difficult to recycle.

Technologies that make it possible to get rid of this garbage are today, at best, unprofitable, and for most developed countries, where the bulk of mobile device users are concentrated, they are simply unprofitable.

So funds have to be allocated from a budget already overburdened with social expenses. However, there is another option - to impose a recycling fee on users, including it in advance in the cost of the mobile device.

As a way out, electronic waste is exported to third world countries, where local residents deal with recycling, receiving mere pennies. But this state of affairs is rather due to despair, because the situation is extremely unsightly.

The recycling process is a highly hazardous industry, and children are very often involved in it. It is not surprising that the removal of such waste is prohibited by law in many countries.

On the other hand, there are plenty of much more glaring problems in the world, to which the “world community,” with the tacit consent of everyone who imagines themselves to be such, turns a blind eye.

It should be borne in mind that digital technology, and especially mobile devices, are a real storehouse of various chemical nastiness. And in all its elements.

The case and board material are plastic, which releases a lot of toxic compounds when burned. Accumulator battery– lithium, cadmium, nickel, chromium, lead, which poison the soil and water when it gets into them.

And all this is in a very inaccessible form that cannot be processed automatically. Regular burning of copious amounts of garbage will not help matters.

Attempts continue to create, if not environmentally friendly, then at least less dirty phones, but so far the result is very far from ideal. And in the foreseeable future there will be no escape from problematic components.

There is another aspect of the problem. The world's reserves of precious metals, of which many are used in the production of gadgets, are not endless. And with their production in the asteroid belt, which science fiction writers dreamed of, humanity still has serious problems.

According to experts, the available reserves of precious metals on Earth will last for no more than several decades if the current rate of production of mobile devices is maintained. This means they must be removed and reused.

They are also trying to attract public attention to this problem. For example, the famous jeweler Nick Cerrone held an auction in 2007 where unusual jewelry was exhibited.

They were made using gold obtained from recycling 8,200 old mobile phones. A similar amount of yellow metal can be obtained by processing 25 tons of gold ore.

In general, the extraction of precious metals from used electronics became profitable when world prices exceeded $1,000 per troy ounce.

Who recycles mobile phones and smartphones?

Moreover, precisely those manufacturers who have long entered the electronics market. , – all these names have been around for decades.

Developed countries, which make up a significant share of the sales market of these companies, are sensitive to the environment, so manufacturers are forced, willy-nilly, to clean up after the users of their products.

While the “young shoots”, mainly from the Celestial Empire, and others like them, on the contrary, are accustomed to a disdainful attitude towards environmental problems on the part of the country’s leadership.

Recently, the situation in China has been changing, but not too actively. After all, ecology is too expensive, and this country, despite its impressive economic indicators, still cannot boast of a level of income comparable to that of the USA, Europe or Japan.

Another participant in the recycling process is retail chains that sell household appliances. They offer discounts when purchasing new devices to those who hand over old ones, even if they are faulty.

As a rule, the discount applies when purchasing a device from the same manufacturer as the old smartphone.

Finally, there are programs that finance the collection and recycling of gadgets directly from the budget.

Within their framework, awareness-raising work is carried out about the need for proper recycling of electronic waste and the inadmissibility of throwing it into containers with regular waste.

However, such good intentions often encounter silent resistance from citizens. After all, all these measures designed to improve the environment are perceived by many as real nonsense.

Sometimes the situation reaches the point of curiosity: in Finland, for example, old mobile phones have become adept at sending them down the drain, which has repeatedly caused blockages.

There is another way to get rid of unnecessary phones. There are charities that collect old devices with the aim of sending them as humanitarian aid to underdeveloped African countries.

And once there, the question of their processing will not arise for the next century.

How does the mobile phone recycling process work?

To achieve this, collection points are opened where users can bring unnecessary equipment, various promotions and campaigns are held to encourage donation, and special trash bins are installed where the user can throw away unnecessary phone.

Unfortunately, all these efforts do not bear much fruit: as a survey conducted in 13 developed countries showed, no more than 3% of users hand over their mobile phones for recycling after the end of their service life.

Another 4% throw them in a landfill along with the rest of the garbage, 44% simply store them at home, 25% give them as gifts to relatives and friends, and 16% sell them on the secondary market.

Next comes sorting. If the collection is carried out by the manufacturing company, this stage is omitted, but if there are devices in the garbage various models, then they first have to be sorted according to certain criteria.

And only after this does recycling actually begin. This happens manually, and the battery is processed separately from the mobile phone itself.

First, the body of the device is separated, the plastic of which is reused, mainly in the creation and repair of road surfaces.

Then elements containing precious metals are removed: radio components, connectors, contacts. After crushing, they are sent for chemical processing, during which gold, platinum and other rare elements are extracted.

How to recycle batteries of phones and smartphones

Approximately 80% of the materials used in batteries are recyclable.

First, the case of the battery being recycled is opened and its contents are removed. After this, the remaining electrolyte is removed from it. Then comes the separation of the anode plates from the cathode plates, which are sent for remelting.

The plastic body is crushed and also reused.

How phones are recycled in Russia

The main obstacle for Russians that does not allow them to properly get rid of their old mobile phone is, first of all, a lack of time.

The network of reception centers in most cities of the country is practically undeveloped, and no one wants to waste time searching and visiting them. It’s easier to throw the unnecessary tube into a regular trash bin.

Another factor is, oddly enough, the notorious Russian “maybe”. Instead of getting rid of an unnecessary item, it will be put in reserve in a desk drawer or on a shelf.

In fact: this gadget once cost a pretty penny - and now just throw it away?! No way! What if it comes in handy?

The fact that electronics often fail during long-term storage, as well as a dead keyboard and a completely lost battery capacity, are not taken into account.

And one more pattern. Very often you can see: than smaller territory countries, the more stringent laws are adopted regarding the disposal of old equipment in general and mobile devices in particular.

It is clear that in Russia, based on similar logic, these laws should be more liberal than ever.

So, for the most part, the only real opportunity to attach an old dialer somewhere is to sell it to those who buy old phones by weight. There are such buyers in the Russian Federation.

They can sell boards from old mobile phones at a price of about 300-400 rubles per kilogram, and unassembled phones for 100-150 rubles per kilogram.

The amount is not so great, and where can you collect enough garbage to even pay for travel on public transport?

Also, some not too old models of phones or smartphones can be bought for spare parts in salons that repair mobile devices. In addition to the handsets themselves, you can also sell the charger.

In general, the severity of the problem of recycling mobile phones and smartphones in Russia is not yet great enough to take any drastic measures in this regard.

In addition, the country has a developed secondary market for mobile devices, so the life cycle of a phone or smartphone is many times longer than, for example, in Europe or the United States. This also reduces the number of devices that need to be recycled.