A blooming success

Researchers have developed a novel way of recycling old mobile phones – by burying them and turning them into a flower.

The team, from the University of Warwick, have used a new biodegradable polymer to create a phone cover that contains a seed. When it is discarded it can be placed in compost, and just weeks later the cover will start to disintegrate and the seed will germinate and begin to produce a flower.

Dr Kerry Kirwan, who led the team at Warwick University, explained to Laboratory News: “The length of time that the flower takes to come through is dependant on soil conditions, but we have found that when planted in a pot with compost they germinated in a couple of weeks.”

Mobile phones have become so popular and commonplace that they are now one of the rapidly discarded items of consumer electronics. There is increasing pressure on manufacturers to find ways of recycling discarded goods from policy makers, as well as pressure form consumers who wish to make environmentally friendly purchases.

The team worked closely with both PVAXX Research and Development – who created the biodegradable polymer – and Warwick HRI, the university’s horticultural arm, to identify which type of seeds would be best to use in the cover.

“We have tried it with many different seeds. For the first prototypes we have used dwarf sunflower seeds, but we are trying poppy seeds and tomatoes,” said Dr Kirwan.

Dr Kirwan hopes that the process can now be scaled up to allow mobile phone companies to manufacture the new seed containing covers. However, if you currently have an old mobile phone that is abandoned on the shelf then you can put it to good use by donating it to Oxfam. Each handset is worth between £2 and £20 to the charity and many of the abandoned mobiles are exported to African countries with poor landline infrastructure. Alternatively The Body Shop is promoting a scheme called Fonesforsafety to help end domestic violence, where unwanted mobile phones are turned into personal alarms.