New mining map highlights damage caused by extracting metals for your smartphone

A new map highlights the environmental and social damages caused by mining metals used in smartphones. An estimated 80% of a smartphone's negative impact takes place before it is even unboxed, due to the extraction of resources. A standard 200g phone requires extracting resources from over 200kg of raw materials, which is the weight of 200 standard bags of sugar or one adult grizzly bear.

Mining these metals devastates landscapes, disrupts water supplies, and pollutes ecosystems. In countries like Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, and the Philippines, entire communities have been displaced to make way for mining sites.

The mining industry controls key raw materials, leading to geopolitical tensions and fragile supply chains, which can fuel conflicts. A survey of 6,000 adults found that more than half could not name a single raw material in their smartphone, and only 1 in 4 feel confident about the origins of their device. Seven in 10 have never investigated the phone's origins, but seven in 10 would be less likely to buy a new phone if they knew about child labor in its production.

To address this lack of awareness, Back Market collaborated with nine international experts to create Mine My Phone, an open-access digital hub that maps global extraction sites and connects them to the 10 key metals in smartphones. This map allows users to filter content by impact type and provides expert interviews and investigative reports on mining site conditions.

The map aims to empower consumers to lobby for regulations that promote sustainable smartphone design, like upgradeability, repairability, recyclability, and longer support periods. By focusing on extended smartphone use, repair, and recycling, the demand for newly mined materials could be reduced, minimizing the need for further environmental degradation and human rights violations.