The most sustainable smartphone is the one you currently own. An estimated 80% of your phone’s negative impact on the environment happens before the first minute of use – before it is even unboxed.

One smartphone contains more than 70 raw materials and more than 50 metals. Many of these need to be mined from the Earth. A standard 200g phone involves extracting resources from more than 200kg of raw materials. That’s equivalent to the weight of 200 standard bags of sugar, 100 bricks or one adult grizzly bear.

The mining of raw materials devastates landscapes, disrupts local water supplies and pollutes ecosystems. Entire communities in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ecuador and Philippines have been displaced to make way for mining sites. Some countries ignore the child labour used in their mining and processing operations.

Many of your phone’s critical raw materials are only found in a handful of places. That means control over those materials matters both economically and politically, creating geopolitical tensions, fragile supply chains, and competition for access. This can fuel conflict.

In short, behind the phone in your hand sits a story that involves environmental damage, pollution, human rights violation........

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