Earlier this year, Cagri Turk, in his final year of a PhD in mechanical engineering at Ontario Tech, felt it was time to make a phone upgrade. Two months ago, he bought the Google Pixel 10.
“Before this purchase, I was really poor,” Turk said. “I used a really old [pre-owned] phone. I think [I had it] maximum two years.”
But when it’s time for an upgrade, it’s not often because the device is broken or obsolete like it was for Turk.
According to a recent survey and analysis conducted by the University of Waterloo, 64 per cent of Canadians throw away their electronics prematurely, with the average lifetime of a smartphone being only four years.
The Waterloo researchers found that between 2025 and 2030, electronics, such as smartphones, tablets and appliances, could make up 2.3 million tons of e-waste, enough to fill the CN Tower 18 times.
While the amount is important, the environmental impact due to material loss and pollution is more concerning, according to researchers. That’s due to hazardous materials such as heavy metals, persistent pollutants and acids that leach from e-waste.
“Toxic materials like lead, cadmium, mercury and so on, which are not managed properly, can lead to environmental issues,” said Dr. Elham Mohammadi, a researcher for the Waterloo Industrial Ecology Group. “Some of the electronic waste is being exported to other parts of the world.”
While it may seem difficult to properly recycle e-waste, there are multiple ways to dispose of your electronics properly.
“It would be best to give it to a friend or family member, sell it online, second-hand market, or donate it to some of the organizations which can give this product to someone who really needs them,” Mohammadi said.
This is a practice that people such as Julia Biddle, a first-year Accounting – Business student, are already putting into practice.
“We kind of have a system where when my mom gets a new phone, I get her old one,” Biddle said. “So I think I’ve had it for probably two years now. My mom got it like a few years before that.”
Other disposal methods include websites like recyclemyelectronics.ca, which map out partner locations that buy back or collect e-waste. Municipal waste management centres also have dedicated disposal spaces for e-waste.