Telefonica’s MVNO giffgaff reckons more than a 100 million unused devices worth a collective £14.1 billion are gathering dust in houses.
Guff Gaff’s esearch indicates that, on average, each UK adult possesses at least two unused mobile devices at home, with anotherl two devices having been discarded in the bin. Despite the potential value many end up in landfill sites.
The survey estimated the average male owned three unused handsets and discarded an additional two. Women had, on average, two unused devices and threw away two. Around 57 per cent of binned phones were actually broken or damaged and many could have been reused or recycled.
The study said the prospect of making some money was the main incentive for selling a used phone/ Environmental considerations were cited by 28 perf cent of people surve4yed. cited environmental sustainability as a motivating factor. A third of respondantswere interested in donated a phone to a good cause.
Giffgaff has a partnership with The Big Issue providing 250 refurbished phones to Big Issue vendors so they can support cashless payments for magazine purchases.
Giffgaff, CEO Ash Schofield said : “People are sitting on a significant amount of cash when finances are being hit hard. I would urge everyone to do what they can to get the maximum life out of their phone. Recycling i is great for helping people, like Big Issue vendors,benefiting not only their wallets but also the environment and communities in need.
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