ABI Research has released a study that shows merely 6% of all cell phones that are replaced per year are recycled (by refurbishment) and that out of the 94% that are thrown away, only 2% are properly disposed of. This means that of the hundreds of millions of cell phones that are replaced per year (many of which contain “conflict components”), approximately 460,000,000 cell phones are just thrown away, which leads to the harmful toxins in the plastics of the phones to seep into and pollute the Earth.
ABI expects the small percentage of recycled phones to grow, however. They expect the percentage of recycled phones to reach 14% by 2014. In order to reach this percentage, they encourage consumers to purchase refurbished cell phones because “refurbishment is the most ecologically sound way of handset disposal, since the device continues to be used and does not go into a landfill.”
You can learn more about what “refurbished” means and what refurbished cell phones are here.
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I had no idea that many cell phones were recycled. That’s great. I try not to replace mine unless I need to change carriers or the phone quits working.
Thanks for the information.I shall convey this thing to all my relatives and friends.
In fact suggest them to purchase a refurbished cell phone next time whenever they go for getting a new one.