AMTA has corrected the continued misleading claims by zoos about the use of coltan in mobile phones and the impact on gorillas’ habitats in the Eastern Congo.

AMTA wrote to the Mooney Valley Leader in Melbourne this week to correct the record after a spokeswoman for Zoos Victoria claimed that the use of mobile phones “is driving primates such as gorillas and chimpanzees towards extinction”.

AMTA Chief Executive Officer, Chris Althaus, said in a letter published this week in the Mooney Vallley Leader: “Contrary to claims in a recent article (Saving the primates 28 Sept), the mobile phone industry shares concerns about the plight of gorillas in the Eastern Congo and handset manufacturers take steps to help protect their habitat from destruction.

“Handset manufacturers require suppliers of coltan/tantalum, which is used in some handset capacitors, to verify and certify that it was not obtained from the environmentally-sensitive regions in the Congo.

“It is important to note that many handsets do not use coltan. Some manufacturers have eliminated the use of coltan altogether and in those handsets that contain coltan its use has been significantly reduced. In a handset containing coltan, typically only one capacitor out of more than 100 would contain coltan. In such a phone, this equates to less than 0.04g of coltan, which is about 0.04% of the phone’s weight.

“Although the use of coltan is being phased out, when it is used (from non-illegal sources), coltan capacitors provide superior voice quality for users, such as those with a hearing impairment.

“It was estimated that the mobile telecommunications industry used less than 2% of the yearly worldwide production (not from Africa) of tantalum. Tantalum is used in a wide range of products, including computer motherboards, computer disc drivers, video camcorders, engine control units, surgical equipment, turbine blades in jet engines and lining chemical reactors.

“Recently, ABC’s Foreign Correspondent reported on the plight of gorillas in the Congo and pointed out that the real cause of the threat to gorillas is not mobile phones, but the long-running, bloody civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Foreign Correspondent said the suffering of the people and gorillas alike would only end with government intervention to stop the war.

“Also, Melbourne Zoo’s project to assist gorillas may inadvertently be contributing to the growing e-waste environmental problem in Africa. Handsets donated to the zoo are refurbished – not recycled – and shipped to developing nations. This risks second-hand mobiles being thrown into landfill in poor countries that do not have environmental standards as high as our own.

“MobileMuster, the official recycling scheme of the mobile telecommunications industry, is AMTA’s commitment to an environmentally sustainable industry, which minimises the use of resources through product stewardship, including recycling.

“It’s the only industry-wide program for electronic waste offering free recycling for all mobile phone brands in Australia. It’s believed to be the only such scheme in the world. To find out more on how to recycle your old mobile see www.mobilemuster.com.au

“MobileMuster is recycling, at no cost, mobile phones that are donated to Melbourne Zoo’s program, but are rejected by the zoo’s refurbisher because they are not suitable for sale in third-world countries.”