End-of-Life Strategies For Used Mobile Phones:

Mobile phones are replaced on a high frequency leading to large volumes becoming obsolete within several years, of which the majority is hibernating in households. In terms of volume, mobile phones are the largest contributor to the e-waste stream and due to their high reusability and intrinsic material values it is important to collect used phones for reuse and recycling purposes. Countries use different e-waste management systems and legislation to force producers and consumers to recycle e-waste. It appears that regions that levy explicit recycling fees on behalf of consumers have higher collection rates compared to regions that don’t. Examples of such regions are Switzerland and Japan. This thesis examines if such an explicit recycling fee on the sale or disposal of mobile phones is likely to increase mobile phone collection rates in the Netherlands. The hibernation stock of used mobile phones in the Netherlands is measured with a material flow analysis for the year 2013. Results show that around 5.6 Mln mobile phones became obsolete of which around 3.4 Mln (60%) entered the hibernation stock. With average obsolete flows of 5.1 Mln units annually, it is not expected that this hibernation stock is shrinking anytime soon. A survey among Dutch students has been conducted to assess their mobile phone use and disposal behaviour. Findings suggest that the majority of the Dutch students replace their mobile phones within 2.5 years, mainly because their phones are broken or technically obsolete. Over 60% of the students have stockpiled unused mobile phones equalling 1.64 units per student on average. Understanding recycling behaviour is key to create a sustainable waste management strategy. The Theory of Planned Behaviour provides a framework to understand and explain behaviour, and is used in this study to generate insights into factors that underpin recycling behaviour of mobile phones among Dutch students. Findings suggest that moral norms, attitudes, perceived behavioural control, monetary incentives, and being female positively and significantly influence a student’s intention to recycle their mobile phones in the future. The findings also provide support for the proposition that a recycling fee on the sale or disposal of mobile phones provides a tool for creating awareness and incentivise students to recycle their mobile phones. A deposit-refund system has found to be the most promising in this respect and is therefore found to be the most effective strategy for increasing collection rates of mobile phones in the Netherlands. The majority of the respondents (64%) are willing to accept a depository fee of €11-15, and 53% is willing to return their mobile phones for this tariff. The highest collection rate (76%) is expected by levying a deposit fee of €25+, however, acceptance would be low (19%). In order to make such a deposit fee a success it is important to complement it with a high visible return infrastructure, a better information platform for consumers about mobile recycling options and its importance. Also providing additional services like data transfer and data removal services are likely to attract consumers to hand in their used handsets.