'Cell phone waste, the next big threat to environment'

NEW DELHI: Sporting a new mobile phone may be fashionable in these well-connected times, but the discarded old handsets could poison the environment, as a whopping 8,000 tonne of cell phone waste is estimated to burden the earth by 2012. As per a whitepaper by global consultancy Deloitte, there is a growing need to better manage the rising cell phone waste, as it is posing a threat to the environment.

Replacement sales predict that more cell phones would be retired every year with rapid changes in technology and product designs discouraging mobile repairs and increasing demand for new mobiles and disposal of old ones. ���With the absence of a proper recycle and reuse programme, about 8,000 tonne of toxic cell phone components are estimated to be dumped in landfills by 2012. The resulting contamination will have far reaching consequences for the environment and all living beings,��� Deloitte Consulting India regional managing director Parag Saigaonkar said.

The problem begins when retired handsets end up in landfill sites or if they are dumped illegally, leading to toxic substances seeping into the groundwater, making disposal of old cells a problem for the world, the report revealed. ���As India is one of the fastest growing markets in the world in terms of mobile phone subscribers, we need to be more aware of the threat and strict government guidelines should be created to deal with it,��� Mr Saigaonkar added.