Trust deficit hampers US phone recycling industry
Wednesday, September 18, 2013 - 10:31:07
A new study has shown that many American mobile owners are reluctant to use recycling services to part ways with their old devices because of fears over data security.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) conducted a survey in which 60 per cent of those questioned said that they did not feel comfortable recycling their old mobile phones because they are unsure of the destination of the used handset and are equally concerned about how the residual personal information will be handled.
There is a lack of trust between consumers and the recycling companies that service them, at least in the US. This seems to apply not only to mobile phones, but to a wide range of products, since a report from the International Trade Commission found that just a quarter of electronic items purchased in America end up at recycling plants.
Almost a third of the respondents to the ISRI survey said that they had not recycled their old mobile phones because they did not know where to take them in order to kick start the process. A fifth said that they simply had not found the time to take part in handset recycling.
ISRI spokesperson, Robin Wiener, said that the use of reputable recycling companies would ensure that any private data which is still stored on a device will be thoroughly deleted.
He also pointed out that phones which are sent for recycling can be broken down and harvested for their precious materials, or simply refurbished and sold back to consumers, either domestically or in overseas markets.
The reputation of a mobile phone recycling company is obviously important and the biggest brands are not only the safest, but most likely to give you the best price for your old handset.
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