The world has 4bn cellphone users, according to the latest industry figures. That could mean that thousands of tons of electronic gadgets, many of them containing toxic chemicals, will end up in landfills within a few years. The world has 4bn cellphone users, according to the latest industry figures. That could mean that thousands of tons of electronic gadgets, many of them containing toxic chemicals, will end up in landfills within a few years.Kirsi Sormunen, head of environmental affairs at Nokia, the world's largest handset manufacturer with about 40% market share (and more than 1bn handsets in use worldwide), says the industry is working hard to clean up its act.That means not using chemical compounds that are harmful to the environment, and encouraging recycling. The company is phasing out antimony trioxide, a toxin used in the manufacture of cellphones, as well as harmful brominated and chlorinated compounds. It is also working to remove the trace amounts of lead still fo...
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