Taiwanese have the second-highest rate of mobile phone ownership among seven nations involved in an international survey by environmental group Greenpeace, with most survey respondents saying that it is important for a new smartphone to last longer and be easily repaired to reduce replacement rates.
Taiwanese on average have 5.41 mobile phones, including working and broken smartphones or mobile phones, according to the survey released yesterday.
Taiwan is only second to Russia with 5.55 mobile phones per person, while Mexicans have 5.18, South Koreans 4.17, Chinese 3.98, Americans 3.46 and Germans 3.22 phones per person.
“Asian countries have higher numbers of phones per person, which might suggest low recycling rates and a frugal mindset,” Greenpeace East Asia global IT campaigner Lee Chih-an (李之安) said.
While more than one-third of international respondents said they purchased new phones to get an up-to-date device, more than half of the respondents, including 46 percent of Taiwanese respondents, said that manufacturers are releasing too many new models.
With the exception of Germans (86 percent) and Taiwanese (59 percent), more than 90 percent of respondents said it is important that new phones be built to last.
More than 80 percent of respondents said it is important for a new smartphone to be easily repaired and more than half said they would be willing to replace their phones at a slower pace.
“The survey results give phone manufacturers a clear message: consumers do not necessarily want to purchase the latest phones; they want phones to last. Manufacturers should rethink the way phones are produced and marketed as easily disposable,” Lee said.
“From production to disposal, mobile phones consume a large amount of natural resources and cause a variety of pollution issues, but there is a never-ending cycle of new smartphone trends,” she said.
Although 99 percent of Taiwanese have at least one mobile phone, only 18 percent of Taiwanese said they had disposed of their phones through licensed recyclers.
The EU requires phone manufactures to provide recycling services as part of their corporate responsibility, but they are not obliged to do so in Taiwan, Lee said, adding that nearly half surveyed believe that phone manufacturers should be most responsible for making recycling accessible.
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