Mobile Phones

In the United States, typical cell phone contracts can provide the customer with a new phone every 18–24 months. Many consumers may choose to switch phones more often [Page 307]than that in response to the rapid improvement of products and releases of premium offerings like the iPhone and the Blackberry. The potential electronic waste of discarding these millions of old cellular phones a year is considerable, as is the amount of raw materials used to manufacture the new ones, and even the valuable gold and copper included in small amounts in each phone. State and federal agencies have encouraged initiatives to recycle cell phones and cell phone accessories, as they do with all electronic waste; in some states, such as California, such recycling is mandatory. ...