What is the carbon footprint of a mobile phone?
S2S Group, August 2024
Why does the carbon footprint of a mobile matter to your business?
Why does the carbon footprint of a mobile matter to your business? Should you be thinking of how this affects your sustainability goals?
Many businesses today have corporate sustainability built into their targets and are starting to embed sustainable practices. A sustainable culture is important to ensure the next generation of businesses are dedicated to ensuring the circular economy is a success.
From mining raw materials, to transporting across the globe for production, to usage and ultimately disposal which results in dangerous chemicals being released, mobile phones are having a dangerously negative environmental impact.
However, most businesses tend to focus on large ticket items such as laptops, printers, photocopiers and office furniture. In today’s businesses, mobile phones can have just as much if not more impact on sustainability practices if not disposed of correctly.
The Lifecycle of a Mobile Phone
Production
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 European Environment Agency, manufacturing a single smartphone can produce up to 70 kg of CO2 emissions.
Distribution
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.
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.
Disposal
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.
How can your business reduce the carbon footprint of a mobile phone?
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 the carbon footprint, there are three key steps you can take:
Sustainability is the most important factor
Implement a company-wide 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 and reduce carbon emissions through manufacturing and distribution.
Read about how S2S Group actively supports reducing the 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.
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.
Reduce the carbon footprint of your employees today
The carbon footprint of a mobile phone 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 our mobile phones—one small action at a time.
A commitment to the environment and the circular economy
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 (efw). S2S Group achieves zero waste direct to landfill and is currently achieving an average recycling rate of 99.5%.