Calling All Sunflowers

COVENTRY, UK, December 1, 2004 (ENS) - Turning discarded mobile phones into flowers is the latest project of researchers at the University of Warwick. Phones made of a new high tech material look shiny and sleek, but when they are outdated, their owners can just bury the phones in compost and watch them grow.

Mobile phone users are constantly upgrading their phones in response to rapid changes in technology and style, leaving behind a growing pile of obsolete phones.

At the same time, there is increasing pressure on all manufacturers by policy makers to find ways of recycling discarded goods, and also pressure from some wireless phone customers who do not want to contribute to the stream of waste electronics clogging landfills in England and around the world.

This new research by engineers in the Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick provides a novel way that a mobile telephone manufacturer can meet these demands.

The University of Warwick team, led by Dr. Kerry Kirwan, has worked with high tech materials company PVAXX Research and Development Ltd. and Motorola to create a mobile telephone case that will disintegrate and turn into a flower.

In the University of Warwick greenhouse, Dr. Kerry Kirwan enjoys sunflowers he has grown from mobile phone cases. (Photo courtesy U. Warwick)

A special formulation of PVAXX's biodegradable polymer range was developed in conjunction with materials researchers at Warwick that produces a high quality finish and also biodegrades easily in compost.

Engineers at the University of Warwick have created a small transparent window in the case in which they embed a seed. The seed is visible to the environmentally aware mobile phone user but will not germinate until the phone cover or case is recycled.

The researchers drew on the seed expertise of researchers in the University of Warwick's horticultural research arm, Warwick HRI, to identify which types of seeds would perform best in this situation. For the first prototype mobile phones they have used dwarf sunflower seeds.

The novel program is Motorola's latest recycling venture. The phone manufacturer already encourages recycling and reuse of used wireless phones of any brand, in any condition, taking them back by mail and paying the postage.

In the United States obsolete phones can be mailed to: Motorola Recycling Center, 2555 Bishop Circle W., Dexter, Michigan, 48130. A postage free mailing label can be printed at: http://promo.motorola.com/recycle/phones/index.html