Waste Problem From Cell Phones Cited
Americans will throw out more than 500 million mobile phones by 2005, creating a huge pile of waste containing dangerous pollutants, according to a report by an environmental research group.
Inform, a nonprofit organization that campaigns for a cleaner environment, called on federal and state governments and industry to create more effective ways of recycling old phones, including providing financial incentives.
Cell phones have large amounts of highly polluting metals, including lead solder, used on the internal circuit board, and arsenic and cadmium.
The report, principally funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, estimates cell phones will be discarded at a rate of 130 million per year by 2005, resulting in 65,000 tons of waste.
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