0330 123 4609
Menu
Our phones are modern marvels - compact, powerful, and sadly, harmful to our environment if disposed of irresponsibly.
The average person checks their phone 58 times a day. That’s roughly every 16.5 minutes while we’re awake.
It's safe to say that we're dependent on our phones. However, most of us probably don't even know which Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) are used to make them. The fact that our phones are incredibly smart and capable of doing things unimaginable to us 10 years ago, you'd think we would stop treating them as so disposable.
In this article, we'll go over:
The Issue With Raw Materials Supplies: Find out how consumers are kept in the dark about the manufacturing of their mobile phones.
Which Rare Ingredients Are Inside our Phones? Most of us are not aware of the valuable materials packed inside our mobile phones and here's why you should know.
The Critical Raw Materials Challenge: Why these materials matter and what the EU is doing about them.
What Are Apple, Samsung, and Google Doing? A manufacturer-by-manufacturer look at eco-initiatives.
The Problem: Learn about the evidence surrounding the supply and demand of the rare materials within our mobile phones.
Here's What We Can Do: How to reduce your footprint and recycle responsibly.
You’ve probably never seen a phone ad that says “Now made with 0.034g of gold and a touch of indium lung disease!” But that’s the truth.
Modern smartphones are built from a cocktail of 62 different metals, including many that are non-renewable and critically endangered, according to Yale researchers.
Here’s a look at some of the essential, and problematic, materials found inside your phone:
Smartphones come with touchscreens that are convenient and easy to use, allowing more room on screen to watch videos and deliver bezel-less designs. The high conductivity of Indium Tin Oxide is what makes it perfect for touch screen application. The ITO substance is made into a film screen that conducts electricity whilst being completely see-through. This makes our screens responsive to our finger taps and gestures, allowing us to see content without interruptions.
The value of this rare raw material is approximately £700 per kilogram. The mining process of indium is very harmful to eco-systems, to people involved and causes health issues such as Indium lung disease. What's more alarming, is that we're running out of Indium and in the near future, we will eventually exhaust it completely.
The long run-time of this component makes it a crucial material for smartphone batteries and gives our devices the juice to operate. Layered with cobalt, lithium-ion batteries can be recharged and deliver high energy density.
With smartphones packing even bigger batteries exceeding 3,000 mAh, the demand for lithium is rising. The mining process endangers access and supply of water to local communities, causes pollution and releases toxic elements resulting in social and environmental consequences.
This element is included in our phone screens and is vital in the making of silicon chips which power our 6-inch devices. Silicon has super powers; it is what lets our phone work as a mini-computer. It has the ability to conduct electricity under certain conditions and can function as an insulator under others.
Without silicon mining, most of the digital devices we use everyday wouldn’t be possible. However, long-term exposure to silica dust means that workers who mine for crystalline silica are at risk of developing lung diseases such as silicosis, lung cancer, and chronic bronchitis. Silicon mines also emit crystalline silica into the air, posing a threat to animals and natural habitats due to their harmful effects.
These elements are primarily used in wiring and composing micro-electrical components. Together with other minerals such as palladium and platinum, these minerals are used in the electrical circuits of phones.
Experts believe that the Earth's entire copper reserves will be mined by 2025. If this is the case, it means that the new iPhone you get next year, will need to be used for much longer. The estimated number of these metals in an iPhone are around 0.034g of gold, 0.34g of silver, 0.015g of palladium, 25g of aluminium and around 15g of copper. The environmental risk of copper, gold and silver mining can't be neglected.
Without nickel and coatings, assembling a smartphone just wouldn't be possible. This metal is essential for lead-free solder and the prevention of corrosion. Without it, our phones would quickly become a useless piece of electronic junk.
With the use of mines, power plants, and trash incinerators, nickel is released into the air and settles onto the ground or falls down after interaction with rain. A high concentration of nickel in soil harms plants and if it contaminates water, it will reduce the growth rate of algae.
In May 2024, the EU introduced the Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act, aiming to reduce dependence on imported materials and ensure a more secure, sustainable supply of essential resources.
CRM Act 2030 Goals:
✅ 10% of critical raw materials should be sourced domestically
✅ 40% must be processed within the EU
✅ 25% of critical raw materials should come from recycled sources
Why does this matter? Phones contain many critical raw materials, including cobalt, lithium, rare earth elements, and tungsten. The only way to meet these targets is by collecting more e-waste and investing in recycling technologies.
Less than 20% of e-waste is currently recycled globally. That means 80% of valuable metals are lost, buried in landfills, or sitting unused in drawers.
Not all tech giants are equal when it comes to sustainability. Here’s a breakdown of what the major players are doing:
Uses 100% recycled rare earth elements in the magnets of iPhones.
Includes 100% recycled cobalt in its battery.
Pledged to be carbon neutral across its supply chain by 2030.
Designs devices with disassembly in mind to make recycling easier.
Apple is leading the industry in recycled material use, especially in reuse of cobalt, tungsten, and rare earth metals.
Introduced 100% recycled aluminium in the housing.
Committed to using at least 50% recycled plastic in all hardware products.
Developing AI-driven sustainability tools to optimise energy use.
Google is making improvements, but it needs more transparency and measurable goals.
Increased use of recycled plastic and metals in Galaxy S and Z series.
Committed to incorporating at least one recycled material in every module of every mobile product by 2030.
Repurposed discarded fishing nets and is expanding take-back programmes globally.
Samsung has made progress, but it’s still catching up with Apple in using recycling metals in hardware designs.
Unfortunately, the supply of these raw materials is not infinite. The fact that our phones pack critically rare elements as well as less valuable ones like copper, means we are running out of both categories of metal faster than we thought. We are seeing evidence that there isn't enough copper to keep up with the demand on the market and on top of that, it becomes even more difficult to discover new sites to mine. Whilst no one can give us a definite deadline, what we do know is that it's approaching fast.
Recycling is no longer optional, it’s essential.
Most of us are probably thinking that someone in a lab will figure out a solution soon enough. But as cliché as it sounds, why can't that someone be us? If we do not take action now, then there's a very real possibility we'll run out of all the key raw materials a lot sooner than we think. By that we mean critical raw materials needed for gadget production, including those necessary for touchscreens, batteries, and chips.
So, what are we going to do? Go back to writing letters by hand and use pigeon delivery?
Here are some easy actions you can take:
Recycle your old tech: Many recycling schemes now offer free collection.
Use trade-in programmes when upgrading your phone.
Check for eco-friendly designs before buying new, such as modular phones or those using recycled materials.
Knowing what is in mobile phones helps us understand the environmental cost of our tech, and how our choices can help shift the system.
Inside your phone are:
62 metals
Several critical raw materials
Elements that are non-renewable, toxic to extract, and vital to digital life
By keeping your phone longer, recycling it properly, and choosing brands that take sustainability seriously, you’re making a real impact. You don’t need to give up your phone, just give it a longer life.
The iPhone used to define innovation. Now every new model feels the same. Is Apple’s story running out of pages?
See which Apple, Samsung and Google phones hold their value best over the first and second year on the market.
With Pixels becoming a decent contender for your upgrade choice, we’ve crunched the numbers to reveal depreciation patterns of Google Pixel phones.
