Five billion phones will become electronic waste this year

Electronic waste - person tossing mobile phone

Of those devices, under 20 percent are expected to be disposed of through recycling programs. By the end of this year, an estimated 5.3 billion mobile phones are expected to have become electronic waste worldwide, and only a small fraction of those devices will have been recycled, according to the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) forum. The estimates were based on global trade data and places the spotlight on a skyrocketing environmental problem. Research shows that many people hang on to their old devices instead of recycling them. That…

Read More

Closing the Loop implements new program to boost cell phone recycling

cell phone recycling - mobile phones

On average, only 25% of the mobile phones people throw out are recycled. Cell phone recycling isn’t as common as you might think. There are more mobile phones on the planet than there are people by over 1 billion and an estimated additional 1.5 billion are expected to be churned out by electronic manufacturers this year alone. It is estimated that only about 25% of phones that are tossed are recycled and this percentage is far lower in some places, including only about 1% in Africa. Now, Closing the Loop…

Read More