The Missing Rare Metals -- Cell Phone Recycling and Invisible Environmental Impact (September 2006)

The Missing Rare Metals -- Cell Phone Recycling and Invisible Environmental Impact (September 2006)

In 2006, cell phone penetration was rapidly increasing in Japan, and it was commonplace to have at least one cell phone per person. Frequent model changes generated tens of millions of used cell phones annually, but the recycling rate was remarkably low, at less than 20%. Cell phones contained rare metals such as gold, palladium, and tantalum, and these resources that should have been recycled were being incinerated or landfilled along with general waste.

This situation was not only a direct burden on the environment, but also affected resource extraction sites around the world. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, deforestation for tantalum mining had led to widespread water pollution. In addition, mining funds became a source of financing for armed groups, and tantalum was condemned by the international community as a "conflict mineral. Rare metals that are not recycled in Japan were deeply connected to the destruction of these distant lands.

At the time, the installation of collection boxes and educational activities had just begun in Japan, and institutional arrangements and changes in public awareness were halfway through the process. Manufacturers and dealers also varied in their efforts, and the inadequacy of the collection system was considered an issue. The "urban mines" that lie dormant in cities were attracting attention, but the reality was that they were a treasure trove of rare metals, many of which had spread throughout the environment without being reused.

This issue was a symbolic case that challenged the link between the disposable culture and the global environmental burden, and was one of the turning points in Japan's environmental policy.