Did you know that we only recycle 3% of mobile phones we don't use?

Telephone waste in the world equals 21 Boeing 747 aircraft. But what to do with this mobile trash?

A few years ago, the life of our phones reached thirty months. At present, this period of time has been reduced by half, with the consequent environmental impact generated by the increase in waste and waste from this sector.

Mobile garbage, as it is called, is part of what is known as e-waste, a serious environmental problem caused by remnants of monitors, printers and other systems that we stop using over time.

According to a report from Sheffield Hall University, mobile waste is a worrying problem for our planet. Of the more than 1.8 billion phones we bought during the year, 44% will end up in a drawer in the coming years.

A similar percentage of devices will be put up for sale as a second-hand phone, and 4% will end up in a landfill.

Do we recycle the phones we don't use? Yes, but in a very small percentage, which barely reaches 3%. The environmental impact of this inaction is serious, since the chemical composition of these devices includes ingredients such as mercury or lead, dangerous elements for nature.

Mobile phones have two ways of contaminating the environment directly and indirectly.

Its first phase, the indirect one, is based on construction, because processes and machinery are needed and this causes them to pollute the environment.

The materials used for the manufacture of cell phones are:

• Oil for plastic
• Minerals such as gold and silver
• Tin for your circuits
• Acids and bases for the manufacture of batteries.

Its second phase, known as direct, is based on the time of disposal because they have plastic parts, which take hundreds of years to degrade, also have the batteries that are currently considered as hazardous waste by the compounds toxic they contain.

It is for this reason that we must start recycling our mobile phones more frequently and stop polluting our planet more.