Cell Phones Becoming Major Trash Problem

Date: May 2, 2002

Source: News Room

Within three years, Americans will discard about 130 million cellular telephones a year, and that means 65,000 tons of trash, including toxic metals and other health hazards, according to a study by the environmental research organization Inform. The study by Inform said that on average a cellular telephone is kept only 18 months and in many cases discarded with the household garbage. By 2005, there will be at least 200 million cell phones in use across the country and another 500 million older phones may be stockpiled, waiting to be thrown away, the report estimates. Cell phones, along with other "wireless waste" from increasingly popular pagers, pocket PCs and music players, pose special problems at landfills or when they're burned in municipal waste incinerators because they have toxic chemicals in batteries and other components, said the report.

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