3 million old mobile phones sleep in the drawers of Belgians: here is an initiative to recycle them
It is estimated that 3 million smartphones are sleeping in the drawers of Belgians. It’s a huge waste. Each of these phones contains noble materials, rare earths, difficult to extract and expensive to find today. Then these devices still have value. They can be recycled but also reconditioned. Which is not negligible in the current context of the purchasing power crisis.
Does this recycling work?
Rather, we are talking about reconditioning smartphones that can be reconditioned. The market for refurbished products is exploding in certain countries, such as France. And this is where we also touch the limits of the system. Not everyone necessarily reconditions with the same level of quality. While sales of refurbished smartphones could represent one in two devices sold to our French neighbors before the end of this decade. France has therefore been clarified by a recent decree on the obligations of the seller. This is not the case in Belgium even if the legislation obliges to grant a guarantee of at least one year.
How to sell old smartphones that smoke dust at home?
Here’s one way to do it: a startup called ObyO has linked up with 15 Trafic stores in Belgium, where you can drop off those old smartphones in exchange for a voucher valid at any Trafic in Belgium, or a cash transfer . The smartphones collected will then be processed in the reconditioning workshops of a company called “aSmartWorld” located in Genval. You can, by downloading the ObyO App, obtain a trade-in value for your smartphone. There is a benefit for the consumer, but also for the planet. Devices that cannot be refurbished will be professionally dismantled and their components recycled or resold.