Telecoms
Providers may not be in the business of Recycling on a level similar to the GOJ
(Government of Jamaica) JA$200 million Recycle Now Jamaica Project to Recycle
PETE as described in my blog article
entitled “GOJ
launches JA$200 million Recycle Now Jamaica Project to Recycle PETE Plastic
Waste - JEEP finally get self-sustaining Engine in small Step towards Telecom
Providers Recycling Electronic Waste”.
But
they seem to like doing it for marketing or philanthropic purposes. Telecom
Provider Digicel has decided to do
just that, with an initiative launched by their Digicel Foundation to recycle
cellphones as described in “Telecoms company
launches phones for tablets programme”, Published Friday June 20, 2014 9:09
am, The Jamaica Gleaner.
The
Digicel Foundation in
collaboration with the Jamaica Association on Intellectual Disabilities has
decided to collect unused cellphones from members of the Disable community. In
exchange, the Jamaica Association on Intellectual Disabilities will be given
Tablets, Keyboard cases and Mouses.
This
is in a manner similar to their partnership with CSTS (Cyber School Technology
Solutions) to giveaway eight hundred (800) Huawei
Media Pads 7 Lite with CSEC (Common Secondary Education Curriculum) to High
Schools across Jamaica as described in my blog article
entitled “Digicel
partners with Cyber School Technology Solutions to provide 800 Tablets with
CSEC Tutorial - Corporate Spirit spreading to help Schools get Tablets”.
Albeit
just a swap-for-swap, Autism Ireland is involved, suggesting that this may in
fact be related to this particular disability, that of course being Autism. The
aim is clearly to assist children that are autistic to relate to their world
and computers are particularly good at that. Mobile Computers such as Tablets
and smartphones that can be taken home means that they'll be supervised by
their caregivers at home, albeit I'm not really sure how exactly this improves
Social Skills.
Then
again, the logic may be that in much the same way smartphones and Tablets make
non-autistic people anti-social, the reverse may be true for autistic suffers,
whose very nature makes them easily distracted and less focused.
Tablets
and smartphones, like any typical Data users, will keep them still long enough
in public places with it assortment of games and learning puzzles, once you've made
sure to lock down the Tablet of course as described in my blog article
entitled “How
to Lock down your Child’s Tablet or smartphone and Apps to Block, Protect and
Notify you of your Child’s whereabouts Online - Defense Against the Dark Arts”.
Recycling Cell phone
Waste – Necessary as we’re drowning in Electronic Waste and Electronic Noise
Philanthropic
reasons aside, what really interests me is what happens to the cellphones after
Telecom Provider Digicel has
collected them. Most likely collected and sorted by category, they’ll no doubt
be some book keeping with their IMEI (International Mobile Equiptment Number)
being recorded.
Any
Digicel or LIME SIM (Subscriber
Identification Modules) that their Staff come across will be most likely
scrapped and their IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Number) be sent up to
the GSMA. A request will then be made to re-use them in making new SIM Cards as
per the Prepaid Cycle as described in my Geezam
blog article entitled “The
Prepaid Cycle and How Prepaid Credit gives your SIM Card access to the Prepaid
Network”.
The
phones are the sent abroad to a Reprocessing Plant where the cellphones are
assessed based on their physical condition.
If
they are working, they are then refurbished and repackaged for resale in other
markets, usually in the Developing World, a lucrative business for phone
manufacturers as explained in my blog article entitled
“How
to unlock any phone and put it on any Network - Guaranteed to unlock any
Feature or Smartphone on the Chennai Express”.
If,
however, they’re not working, then they’re scrapped for their working parts,
which are sold as replacement parts to third party phone manufacturers.
Finally, if they’re completely unusable, then the phone is stripped of its
plastic and Vacuum Pyrolysis is used to decompose the phone in a manner similar
the description given in my blog article entitled
“How
to upgrade your Solar Desalinator to a Solar Cooker and make a Solar Foundry
for Vacuum Pyrolysis”.
Then
using metallurgical extraction techniques specifically targeted at Rare Earth
Metals similar to those described in my blog article
entitled “Rare
Earth Metal Pilot Plant at Jamaica Bauxite Institute to test Rare Earth
Extraction Process - Nippon Light Metal Company Limited keen to beat China
using Red Mud from Bauxite Companies”. With values as high as US$3500 per
Kilogram, extracting Rare Earth Metals is very lucrative for the Reprocessing
Plant as well as the Telecom Provider, in this case Digicel.
Telecom Providers needs
to Collect smartphones – New Regulator to impose mandatory Recycling
So
albeit this is a philanthropic venture by the Digicel Foundation, it’s also a serious
money-making venture all in the good name of helping Autistic Children. I’ve no
grouse with this; my main complaint is that Telecom Provider LIME hasn’t jumped
on this initiative in much the same way they had done with Tablets as I’d
reported in my blog
article entitled “LIME
and Digicel both make Donations of Tablets to Preparatory and Primary Schools -
How Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark started a Love for Computer
Programming Languages in Jamaica”.
After
all, it’s the right thing to do. Recycling also helps to remove any extra Rare
Earth Metals out of the environment that can possibly contaminate ground water
and result in Birth Defects and a whole array of Health conditions, one possibly being Autism! By recycling
cellphones, Telecom Providers would be turning full circle and thus be
responsible corporate citizens long before a Telecoms Regulator comes on stream
to tell them to do what’s right for the society.
No comments:
Post a Comment