What’s a smartphone made of? - Kim Preshoff
As of 2018, there are around
2.5 billion smartphone users in the world.
If we broke open all their newest phones,
which are just a fraction
of the total that’ve been built,
and split them into their component parts,
that would produce
around 85,000 kilograms of gold,
875,000 of silver,
and 40 million kilograms of copper.
How did this precious cache
get into our phones,
and can we reclaim it?
Gold, silver, and copper
are actually just a few
of the 70 or so chemical elements
that make up the average smartphone.
These can be divided
into different groups,
two of the most critical
being rare earth elements
and precious metals.
Rare earths are a selection of 17 elements
that are actually common in Earth’s crust
and are found in many areas across
the world in low concentrations.
These elements have a huge
range of magnetic,
phosphorescent,
and conductive properties
that make them crucial
to modern technologies.
In fact, of the 17 types
of rare earth metals,
phones and other electronics
may contain up to 16.
In smartphones, these create the screen
and color display,
aid conductivity,
and produce the signature vibrations,
amongst other things.
And yet, crucial as they are,
extracting these elements from the earth
is linked to some disturbing
environmental impacts.
Rare earth elements can often be found,
but in many areas,
it’s not economically feasible
to extract them due to low concentrations.
Much of the time,
extracting them requires
a method called open pit mining
that exposes vast areas of land.
This form of mining destroys
huge swaths of natural habitats,
and causes air and water pollution,
threatening the health
of nearby communities.
Another group of ingredients
in smartphones
comes with similar environmental risks:
these are metals such as copper,
silver,
palladium,
aluminum,
platinum,
tungsten,
tin,
lead,
and gold.
We also mine magnesium,
lithium,
silica,
and potassium to make phones,
and all of it is associated
with vast habitat destruction,
as well as air and water pollution.
Mining comes with
worrying social problems, too,
like large-scale human
and animal displacement
to make way for industrial operations,
and frequently,
poor working conditions for laborers.
Lastly, phone production
also requires petroleum,
one of the main drivers of climate change.
That entwines our smartphones inextricably
with this growing planetary conundrum.
And, what’s more,
the ingredients we mine
to make our phones aren’t infinite.
One day, they’ll simply run out,
and we haven’t yet discovered effective
replacements for some.
Despite this,
the number of smartphones
is on a steady increase;
by 2019 it’s predicted that
there’ll be close to 3 billion in use.
This means that reclaiming the bounty
within our phones
is swiftly becoming a necessity.
So, if you have an old phone,
you might want to consider your options
before throwing it away.
To minimize waste, you could donate it
to a charity for reuse,
take it to an e-waste recycling facility,
or look for a company
that refurbishes old models.
However, even recycling companies
need our scrutiny.
Just as the production of smartphones
comes with social
and environmental problems,
dismantling them does too.
E-waste is sometimes intentionally
exported to countries
where labor is cheap
but working conditions are poor.
Vast workforces,
often made up of women and children,
may be underpaid,
lack the training
to safely disassemble phones,
and be exposed to elements
like lead and mercury,
which can permanently damage
their nervous systems.
Phone waste can also end up
in huge dump sites,
leaching toxic chemicals
into the soil and water,
mirroring the problems of the mines
where the elements originated.
A phone is much more than it appears
to be on the surface.
It’s an assemblage of elements
from multiple countries,
linked to impacts
that are unfolding on a global scale.
So, until someone invents
a completely sustainable smartphone,
we’ll need to come to terms
with how this technology
affects widespread places and people.
