The 'sleeping phone' epidemic

Do you have a mobile phone at home that is old or broken, but which can't be disposed of due to sensitive personal information?

Within the entirety of Japan, there were approximately 2,123,976,430,000 (2.12 trillion) yen's worth of mobile phones in 2019 that were left forgotten and unused in households, according to the retail and recycling company Geo Corporation. This figure is a ~30% (869.1 billion yen) increase from the equivalent value from 4 years prior.

What researchers, such as those at Kansai University, have gathered is that the number of 'sleeping phones' that circulated in Japan in 2023 was around 355 million.

Despite being in Japanese, it is clear that the number of 'Gara-kei's' has been increasing at a substantial rate over the past decade.

It is interesting to note that a significant portion (~80 million in 2019) of the phones accumulating within Japanese homes are referred to as 'Gara-kei's' -- directly translating to 'Galapagos phones'. The reason why they are called such a peculiar name is because, like the Galapagos islands that are isolated form other ecosystems and hence support a rich endemic population, these Japanese phones have been developed independently from the rest of the world and are thus not well adapted for use in countries abroad.

As a result, these highly specialised models of phones have limited use outside of the country of Japan. The issues arising from the accumulation of old and broken phones are substantial; the great quantities of rare metals, such as gold, platinum and copper found within the devices are trapped and wasted. The majority of rare metals being used in the sysnthesis of new mobile phones are extracted from the Earth at the expense of animal habitats, aiding the depletion of natural resources and contributing to environmental destruction.

By 2023, there were 6.52 trillion yen's worth of 'Gara-kei's' throughout the country. Despite the handful of efforts that have been carried out to try and reduce the 'sleeping phone' epidemic, including the Olympic Medal initiative, the number of forgotten phones is still increasing at an alarming rate.

My mission is to make a dent in the number of sleeping mobile phones. A small dent is enough to make a building crumble.