The Earth Protection Team took part in a workshop about Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment.  They found out where the raw materials to make a smartphone are mined from and plotted these on a world map.  Materials used to make mobile phones are collected from ALL over the world, China to South America.

If WEEE ends up in landfill it will often leak dangerous chemicals into the surrounding environment, affecting water supplies and local wildlife.  We found out that the best thing to do with your WEEE is:

1. REDUCE the amount of WEEE products you use….”Do you really NEED that new mobile phone?” “Could you buy a second hand product?”

2. REUSE your WEEE products by giving them to charity or selling them online.

3. RECYCLE your WEEE products at a local recycling centre in the special Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment bin.  These will then be taken apart and the materials can be reused.