Less than 20% of smartphone users use their phones for longer than two years. These shortened life cycles are one reason why, according to a UN report, 50 million tonnes of electrical waste are generated every year, of which only 20% can be sorted and re-used. Our aim in manufacturing our products is to establish high-performance technology with a low environmental footprint on the smartphone market. With this in mind, we focus our efforts on our modular design concept, one that allows us to repair phones quickly and at low prices. This in turn means our phones have a long life expectancy and can be easily and effectively recycled. Achieving this aim while balancing economic, societal and environmental concerns is very important to us, and a major reason for our membership of the PREVENT Waste Alliance. We are also passionate about using new concepts and ideas to stop more waste being generated around the world, avoid the use of harmful substances, and get used raw materials and products back into the production cycle.
For us at SHIFT GmbH, doing business in the circular economy means making sure as much of the products and raw materials we use as possible finds its way back into the production cycle to be used in new products. In practice, that means reducing the amount of electrical and other waste associated with the development and use of a SHIFTPHONE to the absolute minimum. We achieve this primarily by ensuring our devices can be easily repaired, extending their service lives. All our SHIFTPHONES are also sold with a device deposit. This gives customers an incentive to dispose of their phones properly and not to leave them languishing in a drawer. The scheme is designed to encourage SHIFTPHONE users to return faulty phones or unwanted devices to us.
We then recondition them and put them back on sale. If a device is beyond repair, we remove all the components that still work so we can use them in other devices. Any faulty components are recycled to ensure that raw materials are reused; this technique is particularly effective with precious metals or sorted plastics. Plastic parts, such as the rear cover or used cases, are recycled 100% and used to produce new plastic components. Aerials, cables, batteries and other parts go to our partner RU Recycling- und Umweltdienst GmbH.