Abstract
Abstract This chapter considers the availability of mobile phones for urban mining in the Norwegian context, as a way to start quantifying the potential for the urban mining of electrical and electronic (EE) equipment. The study uses a material flow analysis (MFA) to estimate the number of phones available for recycling, adding quantified systems thinking to this book’s institutional perspective. The analysis describes the flow of phones between different life cycle stages in the Norwegian economy, based on a mapping of different pathways throughout the life cycle of a mobile phone reflecting today’s institutional setup. The mapping is subsequently used as basis for the MFA system description. Particular focus is put on the number of used phones being stored at home (in hibernating storage) and the number of phones being recycled. Our model estimates the number of hibernating phones in Norway to have been over six million in 2020. This represented a metal value estimated at 124 million NOK. The majority of this value was represented by phones that had been stored for three years or longer. The MFA illuminates the potential and limitations of urban mining for household EE equipment. Scenarios relating to the institutionalisation of urban mining are explored, with the aim of reducing hibernating storage of phones. We conclude, however, that bringing more mobile phones out of storage at home would only temporarily increase the number of phones being recycled, since the hibernating stocks would become depleted. The longer-term availability of phones for urban mining is therefore dependent on maintaining current rates of replacing mobile phones. This study thus highlights the relationship between consumption and recycling. We find that an urban mining setup which prioritises the sourcing of materials risks being at odds with other aspects of the circular economy, such as extended use and re-use of consumer items.