Millions of unwanted phones moulder in Australian homes

March 14, 2019

(Copyright: www.arnnet.com.au)

With MobileMuster estimating that there are 23 million unwanted mobile phones gathering dust in homes across Australia, there is a call for more widespread recycling.

As Recycling International reports, research conducted by MobileMuster, an Australian collection scheme, “indicates that small gadgets like phones are more likely to be hoarded by consumers for years.”

Although 45 percent of Australians say they recycle their old smartphones, MobileMuster says the true number is more like 1 in 10. As a result, an estimated 23 million phones are clogging up homes across the country, with a possible 5 million believed to be “beyond repair”.

The impetus to recycle unwanted smartphones is described as “low”, as consumers are still “attached to them” and also view taking them to be recycled as “inconvenient”.

‘It’s clear that phones are not ending up in our general waste stream: they’re ending up in our homes,’ says MobileMuster manager Spyro Kalos. ‘But the value comes from recovering those resources, and so reducing the need to mine virgin materials.’

According to Kalos, 99 percent of the materials used in the making of smartphones can be recycled and put to other uses.