In the mobile phone market there are a wide range of handsets available ranging from budget models with few features up to state of the art smartphones incorporating every concievable feature. The more expensive models are usually designed to last longer and are less likely to be discarded or recycled quickly. Even if a user upgrades after a short period, the phone often ends up being used by someone else for a good percentage of the remainder of its useful life. A move away from the throwaway culture prevalent in the mobile phone market could be achieved if there was a shift towards producing more expensive, longer lasting handsets. However, this is unlikely to be achieved unless mobile phone manufacturers observe an increased demand for them, or legislation forces them to change.
Governments are able to strongly influence the way markets operate and consumer choice. Fiscal policy on labour and raw material costs will affect the viability of repair over replacement. Taxation on the disposal of mobile phones is another tool. Planning and competition law and labelling requirements are also potential options. Governments can also pass safety and environmental legislation to control mobile phone production standards.
If existing producer responsibility legislation has not yet been proven to have influenced mobile phone manufacturers sufficiently to shift them towards designing and producing handsets with longer life spans, given the global nature of the mobile phone market, this may be an area for international co-operation between governments.