Low Awareness of Recycling Potential

Only three percent of people recycle their mobile phones despite the fact that most have old devices lying around at home that they no longer want, according to a global consumer survey released by Nokia (News - Alert). Three out of every four people added that they don’t even think about recycling their devices and nearly half were unaware that it is even possible to do so.

 

Despite the fact that people on average have each owned around five phones, very few of these are being recycled once they are no longer used. Yet very few old devices, just four percent, are being thrown into landfill.

Instead the majority, 44 percent, are simply being kept at homes never used. One quarter are passing on their old phones to friends or family, and 16 percent of people are selling their used devices, particularly in emerging markets.

 

Globally, 74 percent of consumers said they don’t think about recycling their phones, despite the fact that around the same number, 72 percent, think recycling makes a difference to the environment. This was consistent across many different countries with 88 percent of people in Indonesia not considering recycling unwanted devices, 84 percent in India, and 78 percent of people in Brazil, Sweden, Germany and Finland.

 

The survey revealed that one of the main reasons why so few people recycle their mobile phones is because they simply don’t know that it is possible to do so. In fact, up to 80 percent of any Nokia device is recyclable.

 

The survey is based on interviews with 6,500 people in 13 countries including Finland, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, UK, United Arab Emirates, USA, Nigeria, India, China, Indonesia and Brazil. It was conducted to help Nokia find out more about consumers’ attitudes and behaviors towards recycling, and inform the company’s take-back programs and efforts to increase recycling rates of unused mobile devices.