Title :
Elementary analysis of mobile phones for optimizing end-of-life scenarios
Author :
Takahashi, K.I. ; Tsuda, M. ; Nakamura, J. ; Otabe, K. ; Tsuruoka, M. ; Matsuno, Y. ; Adachi, Y.
Author_Institution :
NTT Energy & Environ. Syst. Labs., NTT Corp., Musashino, Japan
Abstract :
The metals contained in various mobile phones were analyzed. More than 20 elements were detected and their net amounts were found to increase year by year. The environmental and economic impacts were assessed based on an elemental analysis. The CO2 emissions generated by the incineration of plastics were estimated to be almost the same as those avoided by recovering the metals. Gold had the biggest economic impact. However, the amount of gold is decreasing and an eco-design for improved recycling is an urgent problem.
Keywords :
air pollution; design for environment; incineration; metals; mobile handsets; recycling; CO2 emissions; eco-design; economic impacts; elemental analysis; end-of-life scenarios; environmental impacts; metal content; mobile phones; plastics incineration; recycling; Conducting materials; Crystalline materials; Environmental economics; Gold; Incineration; Liquid crystal displays; Mobile handsets; Plastics; Power generation economics; Recycling; Chemical analysis; LCA; Mobile phone; Recycle;
Conference_Titel :
Sustainable Systems and Technology, 2009. ISSST '09. IEEE International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Phoenix, AZ
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4324-6
DOI :
10.1109/ISSST.2009.5156682
