E-waste & smartphone technology

Case study: what are the ethical implications of designing, producing and disposing of smartphones?

Group 6

Sergi PINLAC · Thibaud MIQUEL · Hippolyte DURAND

Our plan

1The client's missionWe are PhoneCorp
2Your turn, consultantsTeam work & Wooclap
3What really happenedApple, Fairphone, EU law
4EthicsStakeholders & two lenses
5Our recommendationHow we reach -30 %
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We are PhoneCorp, your client. Take out your phones!

Today, you are the consultants

WOOCLAP · Q1 Where is your last phone?
Wooclap QR code

wooclap.com
code: UOAGPPT

3

The client's mission

-30 %
environmental impact
in 5 years
No extra costsIt must not cost us more money
Stay affordablePhones for every budget
Keep customers happySame convenience, same quality
4

Why now: the e-waste problem

62 M t

of e-waste produced
worldwide in 2022

22 %

properly collected
and recycled

~80 %

of a phone's carbon footprint
comes from making it

Hidden cost: about half of the world's cobalt (used in batteries) comes from the DR Congo, where children as young as 7 work in mines.
Source: UNITAR / ITU (2024); ADEME & Arcep (2023); Amnesty International (2016)
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WOOCLAP · Q2

Consultants: which option do you recommend?

1. Replaceable batteryChange it yourself at home, in 10 minutes
2. Buy-back programWe repair old phones and resell them cheaper
3. Recycled materialsRecycled aluminium and cobalt

Think about: the planet · the price · our business

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TEAM WORK

Your turn, consultants: 8 minutes

In small teams, design one option for PhoneCorp. It must balance:

  • Environmental responsibility
  • Engineering feasibility
  • Cost
  • Consumer convenience
  • Business interests

Then each team presents its recommendation in 1 minute.

8:00

Press T to start / pause · R to reset

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WOOCLAP · Q3

Would you pay €50 more for a phone that lasts 7 years?

Yes
No
It depends

The affordability dilemma

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WOOCLAP · Q4

How much was Apple fined in France for slowing down old iPhones?

€0
€2.5 million
€25 million
€250 million

Quiz · 20 seconds · our client looks a lot like Apple…

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Real life: what Apple did

2017: Batterygate

Old iPhones slowed down without telling users

€25M

fine in France

$500M

settlement in the USA

2020: no charger in the box
  • Up to 70 % more phones per pallet
  • But also saves Apple money
  • Daisy robot: recycles up to 200 iPhones per hour
Apple's Daisy recycling robot, behind a bin of old iPhones ▶ Watch Daisy in action
youtube.com/watch?v=fUXiYecGZs8
Source: Que Choisir (2020); Next INpact (2020); Macworld; ABC News (2018)
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The alternative, and the law

Fairphone (Netherlands)
  • Repairability score 10/10 (iFixit)
  • 8 years of security updates
  • Great for the planet, but still a niche
The European Union
  • Dec 2024: USB-C mandatory
  • Feb 2027: user-replaceable batteries
Lesson: when companies don't act fast enough, the law acts for them.
Source: iFixit (2023); European Commission (2024); EU Battery Regulation
11

Who is affected? The stakeholders

CustomersWant: Good, cheap phones
Company & shareholdersWant: Profit
Miners & workersWant: Safe, fair work
Poorer countriesWant: No dumped e-waste
Planet & futureWant: Less pollution
What is good for one group is not always good for another.
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Two ethical lenses

Utilitarianism

The most good for the most people.
Longer-lasting phones reduce pollution for millions, even if fewer phones are sold.

Deontology

Some actions are always wrong.
Hiding information (like Apple) or child labour is wrong, even if profitable.

Culture: newest phone = status symbol in rich countries; repairing is normal in many others.
France: repairability score in shops since 2021.

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Our answer: combine all three

Repairable design
Buy-back & refurbish
Recycled materials

Phones kept 4 years instead of 3 = 25 % fewer phones produced

Longer life  ~25 %
Materials &
boxes ~5-10 %
Total ≈ -30 %
Safeguards: independent audit every year + checks on our suppliers' mines
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Good for the planet. Done right, good business.

Thank you! Any questions?

Sources

  • UNITAR / ITU – Global E-waste Monitor 2024
  • ADEME & Arcep – Digital environmental footprint (2023)
  • Amnesty International – Child labour in cobalt supply chains (2016)
  • Que Choisir – Apple fined €25M by DGCCRF (2020)
  • Next INpact – $500M US settlement (2020)
  • Macworld – Apple removes the charger from the box
  • ABC News – Daisy, Apple's recycling robot (2018)
  • iFixit – Fairphone 5 teardown, 10/10
  • European Commission – EU common charger rules (2024)
  • Android Central – EU replaceable batteries by 2027
  • info.gouv.fr – French repairability score (2021)
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