Do you know what’s inside your smartphone? Cell phones contain toxins, such as flame retardants and cadmium. Elements such as gold and copper are inside the devices that people use daily. With so many wireless devices in use within our government facilities, the potential for pollution is a real threat to our environment, and such a hazard is taken seriously. If you use a government-issued cellular device in your daily work, such as a smartphone, iPad, MiFi, Air Card etc., then you are connected with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Enterprise Services Center (ESC) National Wireless Program (NWP).
The NWP, is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It’s the location where all government-issued cellular wireless devices begin and end their service with federal employees. The program serves over 26,000 lines and uses three national commercial carriers. The mission of the NWP is to manage and simplify the ever growing federal mobile connected workforce. With the rate of smartphone upgrades and the potential for waste, how environmentally-friendly is the concept of cellphones for federal use?
The NWP contributes significantly to environmental conservation through a deliberate decommissioning and proper disposal of old, obsolete, or damaged cellular devices. The decommissioning of a device means that there is proper removal from government service. Disposal is another matter entirely. The NWP’s ongoing commitment to reducing e-waste not only saves energy and greenhouse emissions, but also keeps harmful toxins out of the environment. Flame retardants, mercury, zinc, and lead are components of every cellular device. If improperly disposed, these elements and chemicals can pollute ground water and damage the Earth’s ecosystem. The environmental impact of e-waste is an aspect not taken lightly by the NWP. In 2017 alone, the device recycling and environmental stewardship of the NWP saved nearly 58 million gallons of water from contamination. In addition, their efforts prevented 2.11 pounds of toxins from polluting our environment. Other metals, such as gold, copper, and aluminum are used in these devices, too. In 2017, the NWP’s recycling of these devices reduced the mining demand of these metals by 106.6 pounds. On the energy side, NWP saved enough energy to power 133.71 houses for an entire day, which is equivalent to the electricity needed to power a laptop computer for nearly 124,000 hours.
For well over 10 years, the NWP has ensured responsible recycling and disposal of devices. However it’s just been within the last six years since the NWP began tracking the environmental impact of their recycling. With a confirmation from the e-Stewards/R2 certified recycler that the NWP partners with, they have preserved nearly 451 million gallons of water, prevented the release of 30.44 pounds of toxins, reduced metals mining demand by 1,335 pounds, and saved enough energy to power 2,188 households with electricity for an entire day - that’s equivalent to spending 793,276 hours on a laptop. Now that’s positive energy!
For information about disposal and recycling of your government issued wireless device, please visit Disposal & Recycling
