Is your StarTac pushing up the daisies?

Following up our story on recycling TVs, there's an interesting story out of the UK about a team of researchers who are composting old mobile phones. The average lifespan of a mobile phone today has dropped to under two years, and with over a hundred million users in the US alone, we are facing a lot of waste.

The team from the University of Warwick has come up with a very innovative solution. First, they worked with PVAXX Research and Development to create a biodegradable polymer to replace the standard plastics in a phone. The new polymer provides a high-quality finish, yet composts easily. Second, the team actually embeds a flower seed in a transparent window in the cover of the phone. Most importantly, the seed won't start to grow until the phone is in the compost heap.

LIVEdigitally's concept drawing

Innovations such as these should be heavily applauded, we have to think a lot about all the long-term impact of the gadgets we buy. With any luck, the costs for this technology won't be too prohibitive to prevent all the major cell manufacturers to start using it soon. Who knows, maybe flower seeds are the next ringtone?



Mobile phone news