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III
OSWER Innovations
Pilot
The Effectiveness of Cell Phone
Reuse, Refurbishment, and
Recycling Programs
The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) Assistant Administrator Marianne Horinko in
December 2001 initiated a series of innovative pilots to test new ideas and strategies for environmental and
public health protection to make OSWER programs more efficient and effective and user-friendly. A small
amount of money is set aside to fund creative proposals submitted by OSWER Headquarters and Regional
employees. EPA employees are encouraged to talk to States, Tribes, local government and external stakeholders
about proposal ideas and partner on a project. The creative projects test approaches to waste minimization,
energy recovery, recycling, and land revitalization that may be replicated across various sectors, industries,
communities and regions. We hope these pilots will pave the way for programmatic andpolicy recommendations
by demonstrating the environmental and economic benefits of creative, innovative approaches to the difficult
environmental challenges we face today.
BACKGROUND
In 2001, cell phone use in the United States surged to
over 128 million subscribers. On average, these phones
are used for only 18 months before being replaced. By
2005, approximately 130 million cell phones (65,000
tons) will be retired annually. While the electronics
segment of the waste stream accounts for less than 5%
of municipal waste, it is growing much faster than the
waste stream as a whole. Persistent, bioaccumulative
toxins (such as arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium,
copper, lead, nickel, and zinc) and brominated flame
retardants in cell phones will eventually enter the
municipal waste stream, and become an increasing
burden for local governments across the country.
At present, retired cell phones have some value and
there are a number of programs that promote the
refurbishment, reuse, and recycling of cell phones.
While the percent of total cell phones taken back
through these programs has been very small, the
increasing visibility of this issue may inspire more
effective national take-back/reuse programs resulting in
significantly greater impact.
PILOT APPROACH
INFORM, Inc., in partnership with U.S. EPA Region 2
will examine selected cell phone donation and take-
back programs in the United States. As a means of
evaluating and publicizing the effectiveness of cell
phone take-back and donation programs, INFORM will
track and report on the number of cell phones collected
through such programs, how their value is recaptured
through reuse and refurbishment, and how collected
phones are ultimately managed at end-of-life. Using this
data, the pilot will assess the environmental benefits of
these programs.
INNOVATION
Without research into the effectiveness of cell phone
donation and take-back programs we do not know
whether these programs are sustainable and how they
impact the environment. The environmental threats of
cell phone waste result from the current disconnect
between product design and end-of-life management.
The pilot is designed to be a first step towards forging
the link between product design and end-of-life
management.
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BENEFITS
The research can lead to increasing both the quantity
and effectiveness of successful donation and take-back
programs as a means of diverting cell phones from
landfills and incinerators and possibly encouraging
environmentally preferable product redesign. The Pilot
will estimate the quantity of toxic and other material
diverted from landfills and incinerators through these
programs.
CONTACTS
Lorraine Graves, U.S. EPA Region2, 212-637-4099.
Eric Most, Inform, Inc. 212-361-2400 extension 224.
For additional information, visit the EPA OSWER
Innovations web site at: www.epa.gov/oswer/IWG.htm
Solid Waste September 2002
and Emergency www.epa.gov/oswer
Response (5101T)
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