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| 24 March 2005 |
| Phone Recycling |
| Find out what happens to old mobile phones. |
MARK BANNERMAN: They're compact, they're colourful, they've become our lifeline to the world, but like all good things, they come to an end. The question is: what do we do with our mobile phones when they've outlived their usefulness? JANE CASTLE, TOTAL ENVIRONMENT CENTRE: Mobile phones are very toxic cocktails of a whole lot of chemicals - you've got arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, different sorts of toxic plastics. When they're in one little packet, they comprise of a little time bomb. The danger comes when they end up here and, despite all the best efforts, get churned into landfill. JANE CASTLE: The toxic chemicals from those phones end up leaching out of those phones and going into the groundwater of the system and right back into our whole agricultural and urban system. MARK BANNERMAN: Six years ago, the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, or AMTA, saw this problem coming. Forging an alliance with environment groups, including Planet Ark, they set about creating a ground-breaking mobile phone recycling program financed by a levy on the phone industry. MARK BANNERMAN: But now it seems that formidable partnership has fallen apart. JANE CASTLE: It is a seriously bad voluntary industry program that has basically hit rock bottom. JON DEE: The performance of the industry mobile phone recycling program is extremely poor. MARK BANNERMAN: Let's talk this year. You've sold 7 million phones and you've had returned around 100,000, it's estimated. GRAHAM CHALKER: Sorry, and you're saying that's not sufficient at the moment? MARK BANNERMAN: Well, it's 1 per cent. GRAHAM CHALKER: Well, we're in the process of having a look at where those phones have all gone. The issue, while we're undertaking the consumer research, is that we're not quite sure where all those phones are at the moment. MARK BANNERMAN: But raw numbers are not the only point of contention between the warring parties. For some time now, Planet Ark's John Dee has been concerned that AMTA was overstating the amount of material recycled from phones. And there is now evidence that the plastic from phone handsets has not been recycled at all. Is the plastic for phones recycled or is it used for landfill? GRAHAM CHALKER: Some of it is being used in things like garden furniture, some of it in traffic areas. MARK BANNERMAN: So has any furniture or traffic items ever been made from the plastic from mobile phones? GRAHAM CHALKER: As far as I'm aware, it certainly has. MARK BANNERMAN: In fact, the industry's chosen recycler, MRI, told us mobile phone plastics were not being recycled for furniture. Indeed, until two months ago, it had been placed in landfill. GRAHAM CHALKER: I'm not sure what MRI have told you. I would have to check that up later. MARK BANNERMAN: True to his word, Graham Chalker did check the facts and a short time after the interview sent the 7:30 Report this statement: "AMTA acknowledges it incorrectly claimed recently that some plastics from the process of recycling mobile phones are used in the production of furniture. One thing for certain, though, with so many new phones coming on line, recycling needs a big boost to prevent a major environmental problem in the future. |
story notes |
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mobile phones In many places, phones that you can carry around are called cell phones. In Australia, they're called mobile phones, or just mobiles.  toxic Toxic means poisonous. end up finish in a situation or place after a series of events Example: You'll end up without a job if you're always late. more information: end up landfill Landfill is rubbish that is buried.  leaching out Leaching out describes the process of removing a substance from solid material by passing liquid through it. Rainwater runs through the landfill and carries the chemicals into the soil and water. groundwater Groundwater is water held underground. agricultural Agricultural means related to farming. urban Urban means related to the city. forging an alliance Here, to forge means to create, or make. And an alliance is a pact or an agreement to work with someone else to achieve the same things. set about start doing something in a purposeful way Example: Let's set about fixing up the house. ground-breaking Groundbreaking means new and very different from other things of its type. financed paid for levy A levy is like a tax. It's an amount of money that must be paid to an organisation. formidable partnership If something is formidable, it's powerful and well respected. Here, partnership means the same as alliance. fallen apart failed; no longer working effectively Example: Their marriage has fallen apart. Follow the link for more about the phrasal verb fall apart. more information: fall apart hit rock bottom reached the lowest point possible Example: I'm waiting for prices to hit rock bottom before I buy. sold Sold here is the past participle of the irregular verb sell. more information: sell we're We're is the contracted form of we are. more information: where & we're where Follow the link to find out how to spell another word that is pronounced the same way. more information: where & we're evidence proof told Told here is the past participle of the irregular verb tell. more information: tell
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