What is the environmental impact of a new smartphone?

Circular Economy

The environmental impact of a new smartphone is greater than you might think: 60 to 80% of the total CO2 emissions occur before the phone even hits the stores. Between 15% and 21% of users sell their phones within two years. The main reason? To have the latest features—a business model that manufacturers like Apple and Samsung have been capitalizing on for years. September is the key moment for Apple: the month in which the company launches the latest iPhone. Samsung typically does this in January or February. But from a sustainability perspective, buying the latest phone while your current one still works fine isn’t the best choice.

How many smartphones end up in the trash each year?

Worldwide, an estimated 5.3 billion smartphonesend up in the trash each year. If you were to stack all these phones flat on top of each other, you’d create a tower no less than 47,700 kilometers high. An interesting comparison: the circumference of the Earth is 40,075 kilometers.

The Dutch throw away about 800,000 smartphones directly each year. In addition, we’re the European leader in e-waste: on average , a Dutch person produces 22.1 kilograms of electronic waste per year.

And the Belgians? They fare slightly better in this regard, with 400,000 to 500,000 smartphones thrown directly into the trash.

Worldwide, only 22% of all e-waste is recycled. The remaining 78% ends up in general waste.

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Why is the environmental impact of a smartphone so significant even before you buy it?

The environmental impact of smartphones is hidden. 60% to 80% of a smartphone’s total CO2 emissions occur before the device even hits the store shelves: during the mining of cobalt, gold, and other rare metals needed for the chips and battery. Cobalt ensures that your phone’s battery has a high energy density and doesn’t catch fire easily.

More than 70% of the world’s cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it is mined. Globally, this is a growing cause of deforestation, which affects ecosystems in various ways. Animals lose their shelter and food sources, causing populations to decline or become extinct. Mining chemicals and heavy metals often leak into rivers and ecosystems. And felled trees no longer store CO2. Furthermore, logging releases additional CO2. Every two seconds, an area of forest the size of a soccer field disappears. It is estimated that by 2030, as much as 80% of global deforestation will occur in 11 regions, including the Amazon, Borneo, Sumatra, the Cerrado, and the Congo.

In addition to industrial mining, a large portion of cobalt(an estimated 20%) is extracted from small-scale, informal mines where child labor, hazardous conditions, and a lack of protective equipment are the norm. As a result, mining has an impact not only on the environment but also on society.

Further environmental impacts arise because:

Smartphones must be transported around the world, from raw materials to the final product.
Data centers consume electricity to store apps, photos, and videos in the cloud.
Millions of phones end up in drawers or in the trash every year, even though they’re still full of usable parts.

So why do we keep buying new smartphones?

Back to buying a new smartphone. This is largely a matter of behavior.
The social impact of a smartphone on young people is enormous and manifests itself in strong peer pressure, social exclusion, and status anxiety. A large part of social life shifts to WhatsApp or Snapchat groups after school. Not responding or not being in the group creates a feeling among young people of “not belonging.” A related term is FOMO: the constant stream of notifications(on average, more than 200 per day for a teenager) causes a compulsive fear of missing out.

Why is the market for refurbished smartphones growing so rapidly?

To mitigate the impact of smartphones, the market for refurbished smartphones is experiencing growth. Nearly one in five smartphones in circulation in Europe is now secondhand or refurbished. Research shows that this market is growing by about 8% per year, while sales of brand-new devices are actually shrinking. A key reason: the affordability of cell phones.

Companies in the electronics sector face an ever-greater challenge. Economic growth, population growth, and geopolitical tensions are increasing the pressure on raw materials. And this sector is also feeling the consequences.

The most acute shortage facing manufacturers is in computer chips and memory. Due to the rise of AI, major tech companies are building data centers full of AI servers. Geopolitical tensions also play a role here, such as those between China and Taiwan. Taiwan produces no less than 90% of the world’s most advanced chips.

This growing demand and these geopolitical tensions are putting pressure on the current supply, leading to rising prices. For example, Apple recently raised the prices of no fewer than 14 products. A base-model MacBook Air immediately became $200 more expensive and the price of an iPad Air went up by $150. Analysts expect the latest iPhones to become significantly more expensive as well.

How can you extend the lifespan of your smartphone?

Since 80% of a cell phone’s total CO2 emissions occur during production, extending its lifespan is important for reducing your cell phone’s environmental impact both at home and at the office.

So protect your smartphones (both personal and business) with a sturdy case and a glass screen protector. It’s an obvious tip, but no less important for extending the lifespan.

Other tips include:

Keep your battery level between 20% and 80%. Also, don’t leave your phone plugged in overnight, and avoid heat, such as direct sunlight.
Replace individual parts: Is your phone running slowly or draining quickly after two or three years? Don’t buy a new device—have a new battery installed instead.
Clean up your software: delete unnecessary apps and media. A clutter-free phone runs faster. It also requires less energy to store your data. Emails, photos, old downloads—they’re all forms of digital waste. Researchers estimate that by 2026, we’ll produce more than 180 zettabytes of data worldwide. That’s equivalent to about 6.8 trillion hours of streaming on Netflix. By comparison, in 2015 this figure was just 12 zettabytes. Want to learn more about the impact of digital waste? We recently wrote a blog post about it!
Do you still have old phones lying around in a drawer? Turn them in at your local recycling center, an electronics store, or a Recupel(Belgium)/Wecycle drop-off point.

FAQs

How much CO₂ is emitted during smartphone production? +-

Between 60% and 80% of a smartphone’s total lifecycle CO₂ emissions are generated before it reaches the store, primarily through the extraction of raw materials such as cobalt and gold and the manufacturing of the device itself.

Why is cobalt a scarce raw material? +-

More than 70% of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Growing demand from electric vehicles, consumer electronics and AI data centres—combined with population growth and geopolitical tensions—is increasing cobalt scarcity and driving up prices.

How many smartphones are discarded each year? +-

An estimated 5.3 billion mobile phones are discarded worldwide each year. In the Netherlands, around 800,000 phones are thrown away annually, compared with 400,000 to 500,000 phones in Belgium. Globally, only 22% of all e-waste is recycled.

Is a refurbished smartphone as good as a new one? +-

Nearly one in five smartphones in Europe is now second-hand or refurbished, and the market is growing by around 8% annually. The main reason to choose a refurbished smartphone is that it avoids much of the environmental impact associated with producing a new device—most of which occurs before the phone is even sold.

How can you extend the lifespan of your smartphone? +-

Protect your smartphone with a case and screen protector, keep the battery charged between 20% and 80%, replace individual components—such as the battery—instead of replacing the entire device, and regularly clean up its software.

What can you do with an old phone that still works? +-

Take it to your local recycling centre, an electronics retailer, a Recupel collection point in Belgium or a Wecycle collection point in the Netherlands. This ensures that reusable components and valuable raw materials can be recovered and reused.

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