Everything that the human race produces is made using 90 naturally occurring elements, but many are at risk of running out because of the rate at which they’re being used – and thrown away.
One of the main culprits is in mobile phones, where people have a tendency to replace their handsets every couple of years and fail to recycle their old devices.
The Independent shared the research, which was conducted by the European Chemical Society to mark the 150th anniversary of the creation of the modernised periodic table.
Small amounts of rare earth elements dysprosium, yttrium and terbium are used in the displays of phones to give them their bright colours. Professor David Cole-Hamilton, a chemist at the University of St Andrews, told the newspaper that we need to consider our consumption of these elements.
“There is a finite amount of each and we are using some so fast that they will be dissipated around the world in less than 100 years,” he revealed.
Professor Cole-Hamilton added: “Many of these elements are endangered, so should you really change your phone every two years?”
Eco Business recently revealed that zoos have been effective in encouraging people to recycle old mobile phones, by pointing out how mining activities around the world can harm wildlife and destroy habitats.
A programme at Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo in Australia has proved particularly effective, with the organisations collecting 115,369 mobile phones for recycling in six years.
A programme at Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo in Australia has proved particularly effective, with the organisations collecting 115,369 mobile phones for recycling in six years.
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