Only 3% of cell phones are recycled

Nokia released the results of a survey, based on interviews with 6,500 people in 13 countries, showing that most old phones are lying in drawers instead of being recycled. Just 3% answered that they recycle their old phones and 4% that they are throwing them away. 44% prefer just to keep the old gadget and never use it.

According to Nokia, one of the main reasons the phones are not recycled is because people are not aware of the fact this is possible. Nokia claims 80% of the materials in their phones are recyclable and the plastic is burnt to produce energy for the recycling process.

Markus Terho, Director of Environmental Affairs, Markets, at Nokia said, “If each of the three billion people globally owning mobiles brought back just one unused device we could save 240,000 tons of raw materials and reduce greenhouse gases to the same effect as taking 4 million cars off the road. By working together, small individual actions could add up to make a big difference.”

source: Nokia