Calls for better phone recycling fall on deaf ears
J
essa Jones deftly cracks open
an iPhone 6S in front of a
customer. “Battery issues with
the iPhone, especially the
iPhone 6S, are rampant,” she
says as she inspects its innards.
This is just one of hundreds of
YouTube videos uploaded by Jones in
her small store in rural New York
state, which show her bringing old
gadgets back to life.
With more than 125,000
subscribers, Jones and other
tinkerers have built up a loyal
following of customers tired of
spending more than £1,000 on a new
phone. “The [smartphone companies]
don’t let you know you have other
options,” Jones tells viewers.
Repair activists argue that tech
firms use techniques that discourage
repair, such as screws that need
special tools. Their aim is to make sure
you buy a new device – and that’s
causing problems for the environment.
A study by the Royal Society of
Chemistry has revealed there are up to
40m unused electronic gadgets in UK
homes. Our country is also one of the
worst for “e-waste”, with the average
UK resident throwing away 24.5kg
(54lb) of electronic junk each year.
Devices such as old mobile phones
contain valuable small amounts of
gold, silver and palladium, as well as
rare earth elements. Six of these, that
are used in technologies from
pacemakers to hearing aids, could run
out within the next 100 years.
Part of the reason for the stockpiles
is that recycling electronics is tough to
make economical. Extracting value
from trace amounts of rare metals is
difficult. “Phones are lucrative – but
recycling a modern smartphone is a
money-losing proposition,” says Kyle
Wiens of California-based gadget
repair website iFixit. Specialist
machines are needed to disassemble
phones, while some rare metals are
impossible to recover currently.
So most reputable phone recycling
firms concentrate on repair. An £800
iPhone 8 may still be worth £600
second-hand and while many resale
businesses are small or privately
owned, the market is expected to hit
$52bn (£43bn) by 2022, according to
research from IDC. Over the past two
years £4.6bn has been spent in the UKdismantle them,” he says, although
Apple does accept them for trade-ins.
Europe is working towards a repair
directive, and the UK Government has
signalled it could back it after Brexit.
Last year, 59 UK repair shops and
community groups banded together,
with MPs including Sir Vince Cable, to
demand similar repair rules.
There have been some changes:
Apple has begun accepting phones for
repairs that had been altered with
third-party batteries, according to
memos sent to staff. It has also built
proprietary iPhone repair robots, such
as Daisy, which takes apart and
recycles iPhones. It can dismantle 1.2m
devices each year. In 2018, Apple says
it refurbished 7.8m products, keeping
48,000 tons of e-waste from landfill.
Firms such as Apple and Samsung
also offer trade-ins that can net
users hundreds of pounds if they
return a phone for refurbishment
when they upgrade. Yet a world of
environmentally friendly phone
recycling and reuse by big tech firms
is many years away.
Until then, it will be up to smaller
shops to keep phones in working
order.on gadget repair, says warranty
provider SquareTrade.
Good news for repair shops such as
iSmash, an iPhone specialist. Founded
on the King’s Road in 2013, iSmash is a
rare high street success and will grow
to 70 stores by 2021 from 26 currently,
says boss Julian Shovlin. “The whole
trend of people retaining their
handsets for longer is great news,” he
said this year. Other British repair
firms are expanding – musicMagpie is
the world’s biggest reseller of physical
media, and smartphone refurbishment
is its fastest-growing sector.
The Stockport-based online firm
estimates record sales of £130m this
year, having taken the UK resale
market by storm and making inroads
in the US. “Around 95pc of productswe get back into another consumer’s
hands,” says Jon Miller, its electronics
managing director. “We are always
trying to give that product a second
life.” When musicMagpie takes a
product into its warehouse, it runs 70
checks of all sensors, microphones,
power supplies and camera modules.
“It’s like an MoT,” Miller adds.
Yet phone repair has been
complicated by uneasy relationships
between independent repairers, such
as Jones’ iPad Rehab, and the biggest
tech firms. With phone sales falling,
consumers keeping handsets longer is
a threat to the corporates’ growth.
Samsung’s operating profit fell 56pc
this year, while Apple cited a tenfold
rise in people replacing batteries as
one reason for a profit warning thisyear, its first since 2002. While Apple
has won plaudits for using renewable
energy, according to some in the
recycling sector this fails to make up
for phones’ environmental impact.
The firm has lobbied against “right
to repair” bills in several US states:
they aim to force tech companies to
open up about how to repair their
products, and to sell independent
shops the right tools and spares.
“The biggest manufacturers are
against us,” says Kaitlin Osborne, a
repair shop owner in California. iFixit’s
Wiens is unequivocal: “I wouldn’t take
anything Apple is saying in good faith.”
This has led to legal spats. In 2018,
Apple sued Henrik Huseby, owner of a
repair shop in Ski, Norway, for selling
unauthorised aftermarket iPhonescreens. A court ruled in Huseby’s
favour, but Apple won on appeal.
Lisa Jackson, Apple vice president
of environment, has said the firm aims
its products to last more than one
owner but that this is not about letting
anybody swap in-and-out third-party
components. “I don’t think you can say
repairability equals longevity,” she said
in 2017. “You want to get a point where
repairs are minimised.” Apple does run
a repair programme, with 5,000 stores
worldwide, and is developing
techniques to improve recycling.
But Wiens claims some Apple
products are almost impossible to
repair or dispose of safely without
specialist machinery. “AirPods, for
example, are not safe to dispose of in a
landfill. There is no safe way toAs 40m unused
gadgets pile up in
UK homes, Matthew
Field finds big tech
firms are not making
it easy for buyers to
give them a new life
SCARDEYCAT FOR THE TELEGRAPHFacebook’s digital currency set
for scrutiny by EU regulators
By Hasan ChowdhuryFACEBOOK looks set to undergo an
investigation of its planned digital cur-
rency by European regulators amid
fears it could exclude rivals.
Regulators are believed to have sent
out questionnaires to groups involved
with the project as part of an initial
information-gathering exercise.
The European Commission is “in-
vestigating potential anti-competitive
behaviour” and the ability for Libra to
monopolise payments and force rivals
out of the market, according to a docu-
ment seen by Bloomberg.
Officials said they were concerned
that Libra could create “possible com-
petition restrictions” on the informa-
tion that will be exchanged and the use
of consumer data.
They are also looking into the inte-
gration of Libra-backed applications
into Facebook services such as What-
sApp and Messenger.
Facebook unveiled its ambitious
plans to enter the financial sector inJune, revealing cryptocurrency Libra
as an alternative payment system.
It is the result of a secretive year-
long project within the social network
and is by far the most heavily sup-
ported and well-resourced effort to
take cryptocurrency and blockchain
technology into the financial main-
stream. Facebook wants people to bor-row money, buy goods and pay bills
using Libra, a major push into financial
services from the company as it grap-
ples with slowing growth, as well as
investigations over its privacy record.
The currency is expected to launch
in the first half of next year and has
been backed by 27 other companiesand organisations including Uber, Spo-
tify, Mastercard, eBay and Vodafone.
Facebook also plans to release a
wallet app, called Calibra, to buy and
sell Libra. It will allow users to make
payments across Facebook Messenger
and WhatsApp.
However, there has been mounting
criticism of Libra from different cor-
ners, with both politicians and bankers
taking shots at the proposals.
Earlier this month, Elizabeth Den-
ham, the Information Commissioner,
warned that Facebook’s previous fail-
ings with user privacy should warrant
concern about financial data being
handled by the firm.
In June, French finance minister
Bruno Le Maire called for Libra to be
scrutinised by central banks, claiming
it would be “out of the question” for it
to become a sovereign currency.
Facebook has sought to ease con-
cerns the push represents a new land
grab, saying it would keep Calibra sepa-
rate from the social network and would
not use data for advertising purposes.27
Number of companies that have partnered
with Facebook to back its cryptocurrency,
Libra, expected to launch next yearTechnology Intelligence
Owners can sell unwanted devices
on to one of the myriad technology
resellers, which are operating both
online and on the high street.
A working iPhone 7 dating from
2016 can sell for up to £170, while a
Samsung Galaxy S7, released
around the same time, will receive
quotes for around £100.
As a rule the newer a mobile
phone model, the higher the
potential return. The iPhone 8
receives quotes in excess of £300.
Older smartphones such as the
Sony Xperia Z5 can still receive
anything from up to £70 and even
damaged handsets can be sold for
around £20.
High street resellers will also
take working gadgets such as
laptops and video game consoles. A
PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360
gathering dust in the attic could be
worth up to £30 in cash (or more in
exchange vouchers).
Newer gaming consoles such as
the PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo
Switch can be sold for up to £150.
Auction site eBay is also a
favourite destination for selling
retro gadgets. Old Nokia 3310
mobile phones have sold for more
than £50, a boxed vintage Sony
Walkman is currently listed for
£150 and original Nintendo
Game Boys are regularly for sale
at up to £50.Money for old phones
The cash gathering dustBy Hasan ChowdhurySOFTBANK-BACKED start-up Uhuru
is pressing ahead with a London float.
The Japanese company’s technology
links smart gadgets to the internet. It
works with a number of high-profile
clients, including Honda, Yamaha and
British chipmaker Arm Holdings,
which was bought by SoftBank for
£24.3bn in 2016.
Uhuru is preparing an October flota-tion on Aim, the Financial Times re-
ported. It plans a formal announcement
next month, a source said.
“The London market is very appeal-
ing in terms of the amount of capital
that can be obtained and the higher
profile would give credibility when
dealing with global partners,” TakashiSonoda, Uhuru chief executive, said
earlier this year.
Uhuru – Swahili for “freedom” –
opened a London office and raised
$4.5m (£3.8m) from SoftBank last year.
The firm believes it is easier to find tal-
ent in the UK than in Silicon Valley, de-
spite Brexit uncertainty.
The initial public offering in London
would see Uhuru take a different path
to other Far East firms, such as Tokyo-
based messaging service Line, which
chose a dual listing in Japan’s capital
and in New York in 2016. Secure Design
KK was the last Japanese firm to go
public in London, in 2006.
SoftBank, the Japanese conglomer-
ate fuelling investment in the global
technology sector, is preparing to cre-
ate an “ecosystem” of companies that it
backs through its $100bn Vision Fund.
It recently announced its intention
to raise funds for a further $108bn Vi-
sion Fund that could help accelerate
the growth of its investments.
Masayoshi Son, SoftBank chief exec-
utive and founder, has said that he
wishes to launch Vision Funds every
two to three years to continue backing
technology firms.Takashi Sonoda,
chief executive of
tech start-up Uhuru,
which is planning a
float on Aim in
LondonSoftBank-backed smart start-up
Uhuru aims for London listing
Capital boom fuels
North-South divide
in technology talent
By Tom HogginsHIGH demand for jobs in London from
emerging sectors threatens to widen a
North-South divide in tech talent.
Accenture found 37pc of the 422,000
UK-based professionals in “data analyt-
ics, artificial intelligence, blockchain,
extended reality and quantum comput-
ing” are based in the capital.
Jobs in emerging technologies are
on the increase, with 63,000 new roles
there advertised in London – more
than the combined total of roles on
offer in 10 other major cities, including
Manchester, Edinburgh and Liverpool.
The report said the concentration
“threatens to further widen the wealth
and skills gap between the South East
and the rest of the country”.
“We want to prove that the capital is
far from the only option,” said Zahra
Bahrololoumi, head of Accenture
Technology. “There’s so much of this
talent in other cities, but it’s being
overlooked. ”
While the report claims current
trends could exacerbate the divide it
also highlights emerging hubs in New-
castle, Manchester and Edinburgh.The Daily Telegraph Thursday 22 August 2019 *** 33
RELEASED BY "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws