Turning discarded mobile phones into
flowers is the latest project of researchers at the University of
Warwick. Phones made of a new high tech material look shiny and
sleek, but when they are outdated, their owners can just bury the
phones in compost and watch them grow.
Mobile phone users are constantly upgrading their phones in
response to rapid changes in technology and style, leaving behind a
growing pile of obsolete phones.
At the same time, there is increasing pressure on all
manufacturers by policy makers to find ways of recycling discarded
goods, and also pressure from some wireless phone customers who do
not want to contribute to the stream of waste electronics clogging
landfills in England and around the world.
This new research by engineers in the Warwick Manufacturing Group
at the University of Warwick provides a novel way that a mobile
telephone manufacturer can meet these demands.
The University of Warwick team, led by Dr. Kerry Kirwan, has
worked with high tech materials company PVAXX Research and
Development Ltd. and Motorola to create a mobile telephone case that
will disintegrate and turn into a flower.
In the University of Warwick greenhouse, Dr. Kerry Kirwan enjoys
sunflowers he has grown from mobile phone cases. (Photo
courtesy U. Warwick)
PVAXX produces
biocompostible polymers that biodegrade into non-toxic residues.
Suitable for fiber extrusion, injection moulding, film applications
and blow moulding, they are approved for food and pharmaceuticals,
but had never before been used for mobile phones.
A special formulation of PVAXX's biodegradable polymer range was
developed in conjunction with materials researchers at Warwick that
produces a high quality finish and also biodegrades easily in
compost.
Engineers at the University of Warwick have created a small
transparent window in the case in which they embed a seed. The seed
is visible to the environmentally aware mobile phone user but will
not germinate until the phone cover or case is recycled.
The researchers drew on the seed expertise of researchers in the
University of Warwick's horticultural research arm, Warwick HRI, to
identify which types of seeds would perform best in this situation.
For the first prototype mobile phones they have used dwarf sunflower
seeds.
The novel program is Motorola's latest recycling venture. The
phone manufacturer already encourages recycling and reuse of used
wireless phones of any brand, in any condition, taking them back by
mail and paying the postage.
In the United States obsolete phones can be mailed to: Motorola
Recycling Center, 2555 Bishop Circle W., Dexter, Michigan, 48130. A
postage free mailing label can be printed at: http://promo.motorola.com/recycle/phones/index.html
