Some mobile phones are becoming obsolete in just a few months these days. This is particularly the case with smartphones, which can cease to be cutting edge within a few weeks. Some say with Android phones it can be measured in days.
By the end of a two year contract our mobile might seem ancient compared withe latest models, but it contains components with a much longer lifespan and with a high residual value. Take the camera lens for instance. Think of the high megapixel camera phones that came out a couple of years ago with Carl Zeiss optics. The camera parts alone have a good resale value and some top end smartphones can be worth almost as much as when they were released.
Mobile phone recycling is clearly essential to protect the environment, but because of the high value of recent models, it is becoming very profitable too.
The first objective of a mobile phone recycler is to refurbish for further use. To do this they erase all data, replace any broken parts and release back into the market. Phones that cannot be re-used are broken down and valuable parts are resold back to manufacturers, repairers and mobile phone companies. In addition to keyboards, screens, and chipsets, very small components of high value can also be recycled. Many plastic components can also be recycled into composite plastic.
In the current economic climate it is encouraging to know that there are economic as well as environmental benefits to recycling old mobile phones.