Yorkshire’s Only Mobile Phone Recycling Company Predicts Dramatic Change in Recycling Trends

The world has witnessed an extreme kind of environmental hazard with the growth of laptop and PC manufacturers and the advancements in technology that have persuaded people to replace their computers faster than ever. Since 2010, the feverish trend to get a laptop or PC upgraded has calmed down slightly, but now the world is facing a new challenge as mobile phones take over from laptops and PCs.

Mobile phone recycling in the UK

The mobile phone recycling industry has always been thriving in poor countries where income is limited and the relatively high cost of a new smart phone is out of reach of many people. Although the governmental stance on recycling is much stronger in developed and advanced economies, the participation of the general public is limited due to little or no monetary benefit for recycling.

According to one report, there are more than 6 billion mobile phones in the UK which are lying around in people’s houses waiting to make their way to a recycling facility. If mobile phones are recycled quickly, they can be refurbished and easily reused.

One of the main reasons why a large percentage of mobile phones never reach recycling facilities is the lack of understanding about the impacts of unrecycled mobile phones on the environment, along with a general misconception about personal data being stolen even if the phone is reset back to its factory settings.

The price drop in 2020

Most industry reports suggest that all mobile phones by major brands such as Apple and Samsung lose 3% of their value every month. But according to a mobile phone recycling company based in Hull, Rapid Phone Buyer, it’s about to change in 2020.

According to them, in 2020 most of the mobile phones we are currently using will lose the majority of their value – even the latest iPhones. The main reason for this is what’s called the ‘network spectrum upgrade’. Most of the networks in the UK, such as 02, EE and Vodafone have already spent billions in getting their networks upgraded to sell the new spectrum – and to use this spectrum you need a 5G mobile phone. So, put simply, if your mobile phone isn’t a 5G phone, it’s impossible to benefit from what 5G has to offer.

At the start of 2020, there are only a few models from Samsung and Huawei which are equipped with a 5G modem. Apple fans are still waiting for their first 5G iPhone which is expected to be launched by the end of 2020. Due to this, most of the mobile phones used today will become undesirable and would lose their value.

So the message is: recycle your mobile phone if you don’t use it. The more you delay it, the more you get closer to a time when the majority of the value of your mobile phone is lost. Broken mobile phones will also lose a great deal of their value as they will become increasingly less likely to get fixed.

What is clear is whatever method is chosen to sell a mobile phone, recycling should become part of its life. If this happens, the impact of unrecycled mobile phones on the environment is vastly improved.