Few Consumers Recycle Their Old Cell Phones

Market analysis firm iSuppli says less than one in ten U.S. consumers recycled their old mobile phones during the fourth quarter of 2007.

Green might be the new black, but comparatively few consumers are so environmentally conscious that they’re recycling their unwanted mobile phones. According to market analysis firm iSuppli, fewer than one in ten—9.4 percent—of U.S. consumers who bought new mobile phones during the fourth quarter of 2007 recycled their old cell phones. But, even though the numbers are still small, it still represents some improvement: that rate is almost double the number of new phone buyers who recycled their old phones in the third quarter of 2007.

“More U.S. consumers were motivated to recycle their handsets by the rising awareness of green issues when it comes to disposal of electronic waste. Wireless companies are promoting the recycling of old phones, making it easier for consumers to do so,” said iSuppli chief development office Greg Sheppard, in a release.

What happens to all the old phones? According to iSuppli, about a third of them are simply stashed away, perhaps for use as a backup in case the new phone is lost or fails. About 15.5 percent of consumers surveyed give away their old phones, 8.5 percent donated the phones to charities, 8 percent said they’re still using the old phone, 5.7 percent returned their old phones to retailers, and 3.1 percent said they sold their old phones. However, 10.2 percent said their old phones were lost, stolen, or thrown away, and 2.7 percent said they had no idea what happened to their old phones.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans throw away about 125 million cell phones a year, creating about 65,000 tons of waste, some of which is toxic.