The Toronto Zoo is reminding city residents about its “Phone Apes” program, which aims to recycle old cell phones so the metals used in their components don’t have to be continually mined.
Noting that many people receive new cell phones as holiday gifts, the zoo is encouraging Torontonians to deposit used devices in one of its drop-off locations.
When buying a new phone, most people don’t consider “where the materials used in the tiniest components of these cell phones come from, and what it takes to extract those materials from the earth on the other side of the globe,” the zoo said.
Western lowland gorilla habitat is being destroyed “at an alarming rate” by coltan mining in the rainforests of Western Africa, the zoo said. Coltan is a metallic ore used to produce the element tantalum. Tantalum capacitors are used in electronic devices to help keep them cool.
According to the zoo, enough coltan has already been mined to meet global demand.
“As a 100% recyclable material, tantalum can be re-used in new electronic devices lessening or potentially even eliminating the demand to mine pure coltan in the Congo,” the zoo said.
The “Phone Apes” program has recycled 50,000 phones since it launched in 2006.
Old phones can be dropped off at the Toronto Zoo and at various City of Toronto municipal buildings. There is also a mail-in option. More information is available on the Toronto Zoo’s website.
