Telecommunications & Sensors, Conservation 

Cell phone use has grown dramatically in the United States, from 340,000 subscribers in 1985 to over 128 million in 2001. Cell phones are typically used for only 18 months before being replaced, and by 2005 about 130 million of these devices, weighing approximately 65,000 tons, will be retired annually in the US. Most of them will initially be stored away in closets and drawers, creating a stockpile of about 500 million used phones that will soon enter the waste stream. Waste in the Wireless World analyzes the environmental problems created by cell phones amd other wireless electronic devices, such as personal digital assistants, portable e-mail devices, pagers, pocket PCs, and MP3 music players. Wireless waste poses particularly acute problems when these small devices are sent to landfills or incinerators, where releases of the many toxic materials they contain threaten human health and the environment. This book documents efforts in Europe, Japan, and Australia to deal with this fast-growing and hazardous waste stream. For example, Australia has implemented the world’s first and only nationwide take-back program dedicated to recovering and recycling cell phones. In the European Union, pending directives will require electronics manufacturers to phase out toxic components and take responsibility for waste generated by products marketed in the EU. And forthcoming design guidelines in Japan will result in more long-lasting and recyclable electronic products with fewer toxic components. In the US, no such national commitments have been made. INFORM provides the reader with a series of specific recommendations for minimizing the environmental and health impacts of this rapidly growing waste stream. - from Amzon