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Now let’s be honest: You probably have at least one old cell phone lying around. Maybe in a drawer, basement or attic. Swico Recycling assumes that there are between 8 and 10 million unused mobile phones in Switzerland waiting to be repaired or recycled. This works out to 2.5 devices per apartment shared across 4 million households in Switzerland.
For the geologist Dr. These are precious raw materials that literally sit unused in Swiss homes, says Monica Vogel. He’s talking about urban mining. Smartphones include gold, silver, copper, aluminum and other materials that can be recycled and used to create new smartphones. The financial value of these raw materials alone is around 60 million francs.
Consistent implementation of the circular economy is not just about recycling. After the devices that are still working are returned, they are processed, repaired and resold as used mobile phones.
Smartphones are long-lasting and are not usually replaced due to a technical defect. According to Comparis smartphone research 2023, lack of battery life, camera quality or too little memory are the main reasons to switch device. Since many Swiss people replace their smartphones approximately every two years, some of the obsolete smartphones are finding their way back into stores. One in ten smartphones is now purchased used. This just doesn’t make sense for ecological reasons.
Until recently, every new phone from Nokia, Motorola, Apple or Samsung also came with a compatible charger. This, together with mobile phones, leads to the creation of a lot of electronic waste in Swiss homes, which contains all kinds of valuable raw materials. These are metals that are very energy-intensive and time-consuming to mine in mines, but can be recovered easily and environmentally friendly when recycled.
In the quiz, you can test your knowledge about the unused raw material potential of old mobile phones and smartphones and find out how the environment (and your home setup) benefits from recycling.
Source : Blick
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
