Mobile phone takeback and recycling: analysis of the ECTEL project

This paper reports the results of a life-cycle energy study of a pilot mobile phone "takeback" scheme carried out by the ECTEL consortium in Sweden and the UK in 1997. Using data collected from the scheme, the model calculates a snapshot "energy balance" associated with mobile phone takeback for a variety of phone types and takeback scenarios, It also develops a dynamic time-series model for the UK, which is used to model the environmental implications of different takeback scenarios in the future. The results of this study are easily understandable and have proved useful to both the ECTEL companies and to the EU and European governments-who are currently formulating legislation to promote takeback. In particular, the methodology developed for the study has the potential for wide application in regulatory and industrial decision-making, because of the emphasis on interactive, dynamic modelling techniques.