What’s your phone worth? Estimating the resource value of stockpiled mobile phones
What’s your phone worth? Estimating the resource value of stockpiled mobile phones
This paper estimates the number of mobile phones stockpiled by students in higher education in the UK, the USA, Germany and Australia and analyses the quantities and monetary worth of raw materials (strategic metals) embedded in the phones. We estimate that there are ~36.8 million mobile phones weighing ~3,685 tonnes in stockpile, containing ~1,200 tonnes of key metals with a monetary value of ~$120 million. Further analysis and comparisons are made regarding the embedded resource value of mobile phones versus their resale (reuse) value. The availability and market prices of precious and strategic metals as well as economies of scale (quantities of mobile phones stockpiled) are important factors in assessing the true worth of stockpiled mobile phones as opposed to per capita handset values
WEEE, reuse, recycling, mobile phone, resource value, stockpiling, resale, recovery
Ongondo, F.O.
1571ba26-fed2-42d9-a392-ad8fde1e6bbf
Williams, I.D.
c9d674ac-ee69-4937-ab43-17e716266e22
2011
Ongondo, F.O.
1571ba26-fed2-42d9-a392-ad8fde1e6bbf
Williams, I.D.
c9d674ac-ee69-4937-ab43-17e716266e22
Ongondo, F.O. and Williams, I.D.
(2011)
What’s your phone worth? Estimating the resource value of stockpiled mobile phones.
Thirteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium, Sardinia, Italy.
02 - 06 Oct 2011.
8 pp
.
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
This paper estimates the number of mobile phones stockpiled by students in higher education in the UK, the USA, Germany and Australia and analyses the quantities and monetary worth of raw materials (strategic metals) embedded in the phones. We estimate that there are ~36.8 million mobile phones weighing ~3,685 tonnes in stockpile, containing ~1,200 tonnes of key metals with a monetary value of ~$120 million. Further analysis and comparisons are made regarding the embedded resource value of mobile phones versus their resale (reuse) value. The availability and market prices of precious and strategic metals as well as economies of scale (quantities of mobile phones stockpiled) are important factors in assessing the true worth of stockpiled mobile phones as opposed to per capita handset values
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Published date: 2011
Venue - Dates:
Thirteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium, Sardinia, Italy, 2011-10-02 - 2011-10-06
Keywords:
WEEE, reuse, recycling, mobile phone, resource value, stockpiling, resale, recovery
Organisations:
Centre for Environmental Science, Civil Maritime & Env. Eng & Sci Unit
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 202181
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/202181
PURE UUID: 2cecb954-1feb-4e96-9d70-87b3ead82f26
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Date deposited: 04 Nov 2011 10:03
Last modified: 11 Dec 2021 04:03
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Contributors
Author:
F.O. Ongondo
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