Sustainability of the use of mobile phones

In the present chapter, a global overview of mobile phone sector is presented. Specific focus is given to the Italian mobile phone sector, the sustainability of which is addressed by taking into account two critical aspects related to the behavioral patterns of the users (namely the energy consumption of mobile phones and associated equipment, and the conflicting link between potential dematerialisation due to the miniaturisation of the devices and the resource consumption and waste generated in this sector). This chapter also assesses the impact of the mobile phone sector on the national electricity consumption in a reference year (i.e., 2009), on the growing consumption of resources and on e-waste production. Additionally, some experimental guidelines for evaluating energy consumption and efficiency of mobile phones, of chargers and of batteries are provided. Finally, resource consumption and the e-waste generated by increased mobile phone usage are analyzed.