An integrated method of environmental analysis and system dynamics for management of mobile phone waste in Colombia

Abstract

Global concern about electronic waste is growing due to the awareness of the consequences of inadequate management of this waste. The relationship between the accelerated development of telecommunications, globalization, economic growth, market conditions, environmental policies, the generation of electronic waste and the negative impact on the environment are of increasing interest for specialists in environmental science. This study aims to identify the relevant variables that influence electronic waste generation from discarded mobile phones, and the environmental implications of use and disposal of mobile telephones via a case study in Colombia, using a System Dynamics Model and the analysis of several various scenarios. The main determining factors were identified as mobile telephony line acquisitions, gross domestic product per capita, and the lifespan of mobile phones. These were shown to be the determining variables in the generation of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the case of mobile phones in Colombia. Secondly, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions depends on the length of usage of the phones; in 2019 the actual waste generated by the disposal of mobile phones only contributed to 10.07 CO2 tons, compared to 102,245 tons generated by their usage.