Carbon footprint of mobile phones: How businesses can reduce environmental impact

Production and manufacturing emissions

As mentioned, mobile phones require raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and copper – all using extensive and harmful mining techniques. Extracting these metals produces significant carbon emissions which increases greenhouse gas emissions, damaging the earth’s atmosphere.

The manufacturing of mobile phones is labour intensive and uses a huge amount of electricity, often sourced from fossil fuels. According to the Carbon Trust, manufacturing, packaging and shipping a mobile phone costs roughly 60 kgCO₂e.

Distribution and transportation impact

After production, phones are shipped around the world to distributors, retailers, and end-users. The transportation process, which often involves air freight, maritime shipping, and road transport, adds further carbon emissions. The global supply chain ensures that a mobile phone’s journey from factory to consumer spans thousands of miles, increasing its carbon footprint even before it reaches your hand.

Usage and energy consumption

Once in use, mobile phones continue to contribute to carbon emissions. Although the energy required to charge a phone may seem minimal on an individual level, when multiplied by billions of users worldwide, the impact is substantial. The electricity used to power these devices is often generated from fossil fuels, particularly in regions where renewable energy sources are less prevalent. Moreover, data centres supporting the cloud services and apps we use daily are enormous energy consumers, adding to the overall carbon footprint of mobile phones.

Disposal and e-waste challenges

Finally, when a mobile phone reaches the end of its life, it becomes part of the growing problem of electronic waste (e-waste). Improper disposal of phones leads to environmental pollution, as hazardous materials like lead and mercury can leach into the soil and water. Recycling initiatives exist but are not universally adopted, leading to a loss of valuable materials that could be recovered and reused.

A review by BT showed that over 60% of businesses now conduct their work on their mobile phone. As this number continues to grow, so does the demand for mobiles to ‘do it all’ which means phones last a shorter amount of time, and require more advanced technology.

To keep your business from increasing its carbon footprint, there are three key steps you can take:

Implement recycling programmes

Implement a company-wide mobile device recycling programme to ensure that old devices are disposed of responsibly. Partnering with certified e-waste recycling firms such as S2S Group can help recover valuable materials and prevent harmful environmental contamination. Refurbished mobile phones are a sustainable choice – the annualised emissions from purchasing a new smartphone reduces from 60 kgCO₂e with one year of use, to 30 kgCO₂e with two years, to 20 kgCO₂e with three years.

Read about how S2S Group actively supports reducing its carbon footprint by planting trees. 

Extend device lifespan

Does your employee really need the latest update? Encourage employees to use their phones for longer periods before upgrading. A longer device lifespan reduces the frequency of manufacturing new phones, thus cutting down on associated emissions.

Encourage mobile-free meetings

Go one step further and really make people concentrate in meetings – whilst saving the world. Commit to mobile free meetings, reducing the amount phones are used, saving on electricity and the need to charge phones as frequently.

The carbon footprint of mobile phones may be hidden from plain sight, but its impact is undeniably significant. As businesses, it is necessary to recognise this and take proactive steps to reduce our environmental impact. By extending device lifespans, choosing sustainable suppliers, promoting recycling, and adopting energy-efficient practices, we can play a crucial role in reducing the carbon footprint of mobile phones – one small action at a time.

S2S Group provides comprehensive IT Lifecycle Management solutions for imaging, supplying, and deploying hardware, as well as secure disposal alternatives. Secure remarketing and reuse services not only help your business save costs on IT hardware but also ensure compliance with environmental and legal regulations.

It is S2S Group’s policy that it does not dispose of any products, waste materials, raw materials and packaging directly or indirectly into a landfill facility, landfill feeding facility or discharging to land.

S2S Group ensure that all waste materials recovered at their facility are recycled using methods which achieve the highest possible recycling rate, be it via sending for further processing at another recycling facility, or to an energy recovery facility. S2S Group achieves zero waste direct to landfill and is currently achieving an average recycling rate of 99.5%.

Partner with S2S Group to recycle your mobile devices responsibly today.