More than 5 billion smartphones are expected to be wasted this year

After replacing your old phones with new phones, what is the fate of your old smartphone? Does it end up being in drawers, closets, or trash cans or do you prefer to recycle your old gadget?

Do you know that most mobile phones that are switched off are subjected to trash cans where they are incinerated or simply, they end up in garages or drawers in accordance with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum?

It is estimated that around 5.3 billion mobile phones are going to be discarded in 2022 alone. Currently what you do with your device is a matter of serious concern.

WEEE is a non-profit organization that holds international recognition. Its main aim is the compilation as well as treatment of electronic waste. International E-Waste Day is celebrated on October 14.

The slogan for the following year says Recycle it all, no matter how small. Thus emphasizing the significance of recycling tiny and minuscule devices.

Small items are easy to be piled up. They are quite effortlessly ignored for their small sizes thus ending up in garbage bins. But still, they correspond to huge volumes when considered at a global scale as stated by the director general of WEEE, Pascal Leroy, while explaining the motive of the following year’s campaign that is focused on small items. He further added that such a huge amount of mobile phones going into waste could either mount for about 50,000km when piled on top of one another. This 50,000km estimates for about one-eighth of the way to earth’s natural satellite i.e., the Moon, and about 120 times higher when considering the International Space Station.

One of the benefits associated with recycling electronic equipment is that it provides an opportunity for manufacturers to maximize the use of non-renewable natural resources such as palladium, gold, and copper. Moreover, there are some components that can be utilized in the new products.

A survey carried out by WEEE across six European countries listed the trends of communities toward their old mobile phones. The most common reason behind not recycling electronic gadgets was to use them again. Another trend observed among the surveyors was they might sell it. Future and sentimental value, and lack of knowledge on recycling electrical waste were some of the other reasons for holding the old gadgets.

In short, if you are thinking to replace your old phone, give it a thought before throwing it in the trash.