Britons are being urged to put their unwanted mobile phones to good use by either donating them to charity, giving them to friends or family, or recycle them for cash.
The government watchdog Consumer Focus has revealed that there are an estimated 85 million mobile handsets lying around UK homes.
Research conducted by ICM for Consumer Focus found that over two-thirds of mobile owners (68 per cent) have at least one phone they no longer use, while a staggering 11 per cent claim to have five or more discarded handsets in their home.
Of those who do dispose of their old phones, 10 per cent said they simply throw them in the bin.
Consumer Focus said many mobile users are wasting money by not making use of second-hand phone recycling schemes.
According to the organisation, second hand phones have an average trade-in or sale value of £25, while some used mobiles can fetch up to £300.
Hannah Bullivant, the watchdog’s mobile phone expert, said: “We discard millions of phones every year with one in ten admitting they simply put their old handsets in the bin.”
“These are sophisticated bits of kit that can still be used or recycled. By throwing phones away, we’re wasting huge amounts of money and adding unnecessarily to our landfill mountains.”
“Anyone with an old mobile should shop around for the best second hand deal. There are now a number of second hand price comparison sites that can be found with a simple internet search.”
