The European Commission has published a report today on the performance of its member states in waste minimisation and recycling. Whilst some countries have made good progress, there is still some way to go before recycling becomes mainstreamed in people’s lifestyles. The aim is to not only persuade people to minimise waste generation but to view any produced as a useful resource.
Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik well illustrated the issue when drawing attention to the fact that his old mobile phone contains gold, platinum, palladium and copper. A tonne of handsets contains around 280 grams of gold, 140 grams of platinum and palladium and 140 pounds of copper. These are precious resources that should not be buried in landfill sites or burned in incinerators. Such materials are becoming increasingly scarce. He drew attention to the Europe 2020 Strategy that is designed to move Europe’s economies towards resource efficiency and indicated that respect for these materials shows how serious we are in achieving this.
Reducing the environmental impacts associated with careless mobile phone disposal is vital, but the economic development benefits should not be overlooked. Whilst up to 500,000 jobs in the waste recycling sector could be created, economic benefits could spread to other sectors.