Old mobiles worth over £13 billion kept by British consumers
Wednesday, February 3, 2016 - 16:50:20
A new report has revealed that unwanted smartphones worth a collective £13.27 billion are sitting unused in homes across the UK, according to the Mirror.
The study found that older generations are far more likely to hoard used handsets after they have upgraded, with 25 per cent of those over the age of 45 admitting to keeping at least four old phones.
There are also geographic variances in the number of old phones that people retain even when they are no longer using them, with Belfast in Northern Ireland proving to be home to the most mobile hoarders.
At the other end of the spectrum, residents of the city of Norwich were found to be the best at selling their old mobile phones and reducing the amount of old devices which clog up their drawers and attics.
Report spokesperson, Keir McConomy, explained that there was a vast amount of untapped value locked up in old mobile phones, with the number of unwanted handsets mounting up, as the smartphone upgrade cycle changes people’s buying habits.
He also pointed out that while not every consumer would have an old iPhone worth hundreds of pounds lying around gathering dust, adding up a number of less valuable handsets and selling them all together would still net consumers a decent return.
McConomy went on to remind people of the importance of properly deleting personal data from a smartphone before selling it. Reputable recycling companies can be trusted to get rid of any residual information left on the handsets they buy, but it is also sensible to take steps to erase everything before you send it.
With used mobiles worth billions of pounds just waiting to be sold, hopefully this will be yet another report which raises awareness about the benefits of recycling old phones.
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