Hábitos y prácticas de consumo de teléfonos celulares en México y España

Abstract

Technological advances, market expansion and the short life cycle that characterizes the electrical and electronic equipments, makes their wastes to be the fastest growing flow of residues in the world. One of the electronic devices that has increased their consumption is cell phones, which are already part of the life style of a growing number of people around the world. Consumption and waste management at end-of-life patterns are associated with the lifestyles of the different segments of the population, being young people the largest consumer segment. Given this context, this paper focuses on analyzing consumption and removal of cell phones patterns from the segment of university students in Mexico and Spain. To do this, a survey was designed in order to obtain information concerning the environmental knowledge and consumption habits and the way students manage cellphones at their end-of-life. The results support the need to develop and implement alternative scenarios for the sustainable management of cellphones at the end of their useful life.