Me

1
Me My Mobile

• How many phones do you have?!
• Why are there so many phones?
• What can you find inside a phone?
• Where does it go when you throw it away?

2
Phone Use

• There are now more mobile phones than people in
  the UK, not surprising given that around 1700
  mobile phones are upgraded every hour in the UK
  (if placed end-to-end these would form a line as
  long as 18 double-decker buses).
• The 15 million phones we upgrade every year in
  the UK contain a total of almost four tonnes of
  silver and 600kg of gold. Fashion/ Marketing/
  identity?
• Its estimated that 90 million mobile phones are
  languishing in cupboards and drawers around the
  UK, sat end to end, would stretch round the edge
  of a football pitch 38000 times!
• The average mobile phone owner has two phones
  that they do not use thats two phones!

3
Inside Your Phone

• The Cadmium in the battery from a single old
  phone could seriously contaminate 600,000 litres
  of water, enough to fill a third of an
  Olympic-sized swimming pool. Cadmium is being
  phased out of new batteries.
• Coltan is used for vital components in mobile
  phones. Coltan mining areas can be found in the
  Democratic Republic of Congo- mining could have
  severe environmental repercussions on the forests
  and wildlife in the area, in particular the
  gorilla. Coltan smuggling has also been
  implicated as a major source of income for the
  military occupation of Congo
• Lead which affects the immune, endocrine and
  central nervous systems, and causes serious
  damage to children's brains - is used to solder
  components to the printed wiring boards.
• Brominated flame retardants, used in wiring
  boards and plastic cases, have been associated
  with cancer, liver damage and problems with the
  neurological, immune and endocrine systems.
• Beryllium, which can cause serious lung damage,
  is used in contacts and springs and highly toxic
  dioxins can be emitted if the phones are
  incinerated in waste plants.