Everyone knows this: technology has given us amazing opportunities. Let’s take the example of smartphones. Smartphones are so important these days, that it’s hard to remember how we used to organize our daily lives without their help.

Every year, we all try to keep up to date with the latest trends. This also applies to the world of business, where many companies believe having the latest tech, in terms of phones and computers, means they can work more efficiently and quickly. Whilst this might be true, where does all the old gadgets go? Probably sat around collecting dust and just becoming more vintage by the day!

Recent statistics state that there is now an estimated total of almost 2.6 billion smartphone users in the world. By 2017, over a third of the world’s population will own a smartphone. Just in the UK, believe it or not, there are more mobile phones than people. What happens to all those old phones, smartphones and tablets when people are not using them anymore ?

Recycling our old mobile phones and other gadgets is something we all mean to do. But when we get home with a brand new phone we tend to keep the previous phone as a spare. It then joins the previous generations of ‘spares’ all stored in a drawer with cables, power blocks and other electronic detritus that we think is obsolete and worthless.

Actually, what you have in that drawer is still worth something. And there are good environmental reasons to recycle these old phones, whether they work or not. They contain harmful chemicals, particularly in the batteries. They also contain valuable materials, such as gold, silver, and rare earth metals that are costly to extract.

Companies like OnRecycle, provide people with the opportunity to sell their old gadgets. Not only does this minimise the act of hoarding, or even binning out useful gadgets, it actually helps you get some cash to keep up with the latest gadgets.

OnRecycle provides a very intuitive mobile recycling comparison service to find out the best price when you sell your old phone or tablet online. The website also has a search bar where one can compare prices from a huge range of mobile phone recyclers. Plus, OnRecycle not only compares prices, but customer ratings, payment methods and speed of payment for each recycler.

Remember: you can use the cash of selling the old gadgets to acquire the latest trends. The saying ‘one mans trash is another mans treasure’ most certainly applies here.

The article “The Business And Environmental Opportunities of Recycling Your Old Plones” by IntelligentHQ, was originally published @ IntelligentHQ (16/06/2016)