Recycling 115,369 mobile phones for gorilla conservation over a six-year period (2009-2014) at Zoos Victoria: A case study of 'points of influence' and mobile phone donations

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 13; no. 12; p. e0206890
• Main Authors: Litchfield, Carla A, Lowry, Rachel, Dorrian, Jill
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 05.12.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Ambassadors; Analysis; Animals; Bar codes; Biology and Life Sciences; Case reports; Case studies; Cell Phone - economics; Cell Phone - instrumentation; Cell phones; Cellular telephones; Circular economy; Communities; Conservation; Conservation of Natural Resources; Corporate sponsorship; Cost benefit analysis; Data capture; Data Collection; Dismantling; Displays (Marketing); Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Endangered & extinct species; Engineering and Technology; Equipment Reuse - economics; Gorilla beringei graueri; Gorilla gorilla; Gorilla gorilla gorilla; Gorillas; Heavy metals; Human behavior; Humans; Marketing; Metals (Materials); National parks; Niobium; Physical Sciences; Protection and preservation; Recycling; Recycling - methods; Smartphones; Social Sciences; Tantalum; Victoria; Wildlife conservation; Wireless telephones; Zoological gardens; Zoos; Victoria; Australia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206890

More than seven billion mobile phones are estimated to be in service globally, with more than a billion older phones likely to be retired. A major barrier to a sustainable circular economy for mobile phones is people's hoarding of their retired phones. Old mobile phones may be refurbished for re-use or ultimately dismantled for possible extraction of elements, including 'conflict' metals such as coltan (containing elements tantalum and niobium), mined in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and threatening wild populations of eastern Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri). Zoos Victoria cares for western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) who served as ambassadors for their Grauer's gorilla counterparts in this community-based social marketing initiative. Through tracking of barcodes on satchels of recycled mobile phones, efficiency of ten different points of influence could be calculated for the 'They're Calling on You' mobile phone recycling community campaign at Zoos Victoria in Australia. Over a six-year period (2009-2014), a total of 115,369 mobile phones were donated. The Courier Collect initiative resulted in 50,883 mobile phone donations (44% of total), followed by the Static Display at Melbourne Zoo, resulting in 29,778 mobile phone donations (26% of total). The number of phones collected for Keeper Talks (at Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo) was 12,684 (11% of total), and in terms of fostering close connections between visitors and the conservation campaign, keeper talks were effective as one phone was donated for every four people attending a keeper talk at Werribee Open Range Zoo and one phone was donated for every 28 people who attended a keeper talk at Melbourne Zoo. We provide suggestions for future campaigns, so that accurate data capture can allow cost-benefit analyses to be conducted. Our results demonstrate that a conservation-based organisation, in partnership with corporate sponsors and community groups can effectively influenced people's mobile phone recycling behavior, paving the way for international collaborations to maximize scale and impact.