Only 3% of People Recycle Their Old Mobile Phones

Survey carried out by Nokia has reported that only 3% of people recycle their mobile phones despite the fact that most have old devices lying around at home that they no longer want. Three out of every four people added that they don't even think about recycling their devices and nearly half were unaware that it is even possible to do so.

The survey is based on interviews with 6,500 people in 13 countries including Finland, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, UK, United Arab Emirates, USA, Nigeria, India, China, Indonesia and Brazil. Nokia says they carried out the survey to find out more about consumers' attitudes and behaviors towards recycling, and inform the company's take-back programs and efforts to increase recycling rates of unused mobile devices.

Markus Terho, Director of Environmental Affairs, Markets, at Nokia said, "It is clear from this survey that when mobile devices finally reach the end of their lives that very few of them are recycled. Many people are simply unaware that these old and unused mobiles lying around in drawers can be recycled or how to do this. Nokia is working hard to make it easier, providing more information and expanding our global take-back programs." He added, "If each of the three billion people globally owning mobiles brought back just one unused device we could save 240,000 tonnes of raw materials and reduce greenhouse gases to the same effect as taking 4 million cars off the road. By working together, small individual actions could add up to make a big difference."

The findings highlight that despite the fact that people on average have each owned around five phones, very few of these are being recycled once they are no longer used. Only 3% said they had recycled their old phone. Yet very few old devices, 4%, are being thrown into landfill. Instead the majority, 44%, are simply being kept at homes never used. Others are giving their mobiles another life in different ways, one quarter are passing on their old phones to friends or family, and 16% of people are selling their used devices particularly in emerging markets.

Globally, 74% of consumers said they don't think about recycling their phones, despite the fact that around the same number, 72%, think recycling makes a difference to the environment. This was consistent across many different countries with 88% of people in Indonesia not considering recycling unwanted devices, 84% in India, and 78% of people in Brazil, Sweden, Germany and Finland.

The survey revealed that one of the main reasons why so few people recycle their mobile phones is because they simply don't know that it is possible to do so. In fact, up to 80% of any Nokia device is recyclable and precious materials within it can be reused. Globally, half of those surveyed didn't know phones could be recycled like this, with awareness lowest in India at 17% and Indonesia at 29%, and highest in the UK at 80% and 66% in Finland and Sweden.

Mr Terho said, "Using the best recycling technology nothing is wasted. Between 65 - 80 percent of a Nokia device can be recycled. Plastics that can't be recycled are burnt to provide energy for the recycling process, and other materials are ground up into chips and used as construction materials or for building roads. In this way nothing has to go to landfill."

Many people interviewed for the survey, even if they were aware that a device could be recycled, did not know how to go about doing this. Two thirds said they did not know how to recycle an unwanted device and 71% were unaware of where to do this.

Responding to the survey findings Nokia is developing a series of campaigns and activities to give people more information on why, how and where to recycle their old and unwanted devices, chargers and mobile accessories. The company is also expanding its global take-back program by adding many more collection bins and promoting these in store to raise greater awareness.

Posted on Cellular News website on 8th July 2008.

The Monrovia City Court at the Temple of Justice on Friday formally cleared Journalist Bill K. Jarkloh of Rape/Sodomy Charges. The City Court’s “Clerk’s Certificate” clearing Mr. Jarkloh of the charges forbids him from further answering to the charge of rape/sodomy.

The court document indicates that the case was been dismissed by the court after careful perusal in Mr. Jarkloh’s without prejudice, totally discharging him from further answering to the charge of Rape/Sodomy.

Mr. Jarkloh was on May 13, 2008 charged with Rape/Sodomy based on the complaint of one Ruth Samuels who alleged that he had raped her eight-year-old daughter Love Samuels. But Mr. Jarkloh at the time challenged his accusers to use the law prove the criminal charge against him instead of using extrajudicial methods.

The journalist who was detained at the Monrovia Central Prison for over three weeks by the court strongly protested his innocence and claimed that the charges against him were masterminded by people whose intend was to destroy his reputation.

Jarkloh noted that "the Chief Justice of Liberia, Cllr. Johnny Lewis, perfected the plot when he personally ordered the Monrovia City court to disregard police investigation into the Love Samuels situation and go ahead to prosecute Mr. Jarkloh in the absence of police investigative report and charge sheet as required by the New Penal Law of Liberia."

The journalist said the Women and Children Unit of the Liberia National Police was investigating the Love Samuels situation based on the intervention of a local NGO, ZODWOCA, Inc. through its Women and Children Coordinator Korpo Kortimai who is also Mr. Jarkloh’s spouse when the court arrested him on the Chief Justice’s orders.

The journalist further explained that Love Samuels was found on the streets of Monrovia in a state of abandonment. The journalists states that at which time the little girl told ZODWOCA and the Police that she was raped by a fellow known as Lincoln.

The journalists also said the police attested little girl on several prior occasions for vagrancy. The kid told police investigators at the Women and Children Unit that she was raped by this Lincoln person in a video cinema. “She earlier related the same information to ZODWOCA, and thereafter told the Safe Home to which police sent her for rehabilitation. She is said to have further confirmed this same information to the Court and even the Chief Justice in the presence relief workers and journalists.

Mr. Jarkloh has meanwhile indicated his intension of seeking legal redress against the people behind the conspiracy for the "very serious damage" the Rape and Sodomy allegation have done to his character and reputation. He then expressed his gratitude to all those who stood in his cause during his ordeal.