What does the future hold for mobile phones and e-waste?
Many companies now recognise the growing waste problem created by the high turnover of electrical and electronic equipment. It would be hoped that the manufacturers of phones would be looking to build phones which last longer than a couple of years. However, with technology moving so fast and the drive to sell more phones this may not be the most immediate solution. Fortunately some technological advances will benefit the waste problem such as an alternative to the LCD display screen being developed by a number of companies including Sanyo, which is based on organic light-emitting diodes. This is a much simpler technology than LCD and would be cheaper, contain no mercury, be lightweight and less energy intensive to produce. There is much work being done on the international stage to curb the growing e-waste problem. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is the most comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous
