Users not willing to recycle their cell phones

ABI Research reports only 38 percent of US consumers recycle outdated mobile handsets. The majority of those that were polled by the market research company said they were only prepared to recycle the phone in return for some compensation, either cash, store credit, or tax deduction. Phones have become an intimate part of people's lives, and it appears many people just keep their old cell phones in order not to compromise their privacy.

Apparently, 380 of 1000 consumers in the United States, who were polled by ABI Research in October 2009, claim to have recycled outdated mobile handsets. Of those, nearly 70% said they had donated their old handsets to charity organizations and received charitable contribution tax deductions. Fewer than 5% recycled their handsets without receiving compensation of any kind.

Of those consumers who had not yet recycled a handset, 98% were prepared to return handsets to an operator’s store, to a charity, to a refurbishing company or to the manufacturer – but only in return for some compensation, either cash, store credit, or tax deduction.

Source: X-bit Labs