Millions of cellphones, chargers and other accessories are likely to become instant waste as people take advantage of a new rule allowing them to keep their phone number when they switch cellular carriers.

Some of the old phones will be recycled or donated to charity. Millions of others, useless because they won't work from one carrier to another, could end up in landfills, where environmentalists and scientists fear they will leach toxic metals and chemicals into the ground.

They will become part of a growing pile of discarded electronic junk, variously labeled e-waste, e-scrap, e-garbage, which includes computers, monitors, televisions, audio equipment, and batteries. Junk that already clogs landfills and poses a toxic hazard. Scientists say the cast-offs are dangerous because they contain high amounts of lead, mercury, cadmium and other ingredients capable of leaching out of landfills and contaminating groundwater.

"It's a ticking time bomb," says Dr. Jane Ammons, a Georgia Tech ISyE professor who heads a project to develop solutions to electronic garbage. Just one large TV or monitor, she says, may contain up to eight pounds of lead. Cellphones are troublesome because they contain lead and the suspected carcinogens arsenic, cadmium and beryllium. Experts studying the problem say that these substances pose as great a hazard as lead-based paint and leaded gasoline. Even trace amounts of lead or mercury in the bloodstream can cause serious disabilities in children.

There are more than 130 million cellphone subscribers in the United States, and they use the devices for an average of 18 months before replacing them. "Because cellphones are so small, their environmental impact might appear to be minimal," says Bette Fishbein, a senior fellow at Inform Inc., a national environmental research group based in New York. "But the growth in their use has been so enormous that the environmental and public health impacts of the waste they create are a significant concern."

In metro Atlanta, 3 out of 4 households have a cellphone. That is the highest percentage of households in the nation. Nationally, 2 out of 3 households have a cellphone. Competing technical standards usually make it impossible for a customer to keep their phone when changing service providers. Europe, on the other hand, has a single standard which allows users to keep their phones. Only a very few phones are recycled or refurbished. Those phones might be sold to carriers in Latin America or the Caribbean, transferring the landfill problem from us to them.

Cellphones are only a small part of the e-waste problem. The federal EPA estimates that this year alone, 90 million personal computers will become obsolete but fewer than 15% will be recycled. The vast majority of the nation's e-waste, supposedly slated for recycling, is actually shipped to developing countries, mostly in Asia. Poor environmental standards and low wages encourage workers to risk their health to recover small amounts of gold, silver, copper and aluminum from the waste, Ammons says. The leftovers are tossed into landfills that might contaminate drinking water supplies.

Concerned about growing piles of electronic junk, states are beginning to take steps to deal with the problem. Georgia has formed a group to study the problem over the next 5 years and offer solutions. Massachusetts has banned e-waste from municipal landfills. California has established a funding system for the collection and recycling of electronic garbage. Dr. Ammons' project at Georgia Tech is one of those possible solutions. Researchers are devising a "reverse production" system to recover and reuse materials contained in the e-waste.

Although the system is being designed for Georgia, Ammons says it might serve as a model for other states and nations. It would help recyclers make a profit while making it more convenient for people to dispose of their obsolete equipment. They are looking into where to locate collection centers, the most efficient, safest and cleanest ways to process it and transport it to recyclers and how to market the recycled products.

Ultimately, manufacturers must be encouraged to design products that don't use hazardous materials and are more easily recycled, reused or upgraded.

Source: Charles Seabrook, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/23/2003, pg. A1, A6
http://www.recyclewirelessphones.org/