The Global Telecom Operators Association (GSMA) and twelve operators announced on Tuesday 27 June a series of commitments to tackle the “more than five billion” of mobile phones, currently unused in the world, which could be “reused”Or “recycled”.
The twelve operators (including BT, Orange, Telefonica, Iliad, etc.) have committed themselves to ensuring that, by 2030, the number of used mobile devices within the framework of take-back programs represents “at least 20%” the number of new mobile devices distributed directly to customers, or that “100% of used mobile devices collected” within the framework of take-back programs are “repaired, reused or transferred to controlled recycling organizations”.
Slow start in the early 2010s
“The GSMA estimates that by properly recycling 5 billion mobile phones, the equivalent of $8 billion [7,30 milliards d’euros] in gold, palladium, silver, copper, rare earths and other critical minerals could be recovered, as well as enough cobalt for the production of 10 million electric car batteries”they estimated in a joint statement.
After a sluggish start in the early 2010s, the sector has experienced a marked acceleration in recent years, both in terms of reconditioning (repairing used devices) and recycling components (metals, rare earths, plastics, etc.).
According to research firm Mordor Intelligence, the refurbished smartphone market is expected to grow by 10% per year by 2027, with a notable breakthrough in the Asian market – particularly in India and Indonesia. According to the firm Persistence Market Research, the turnover of recycled laptops should increase from 49.9 billion dollars (45.5 billion euros) in 2020 to 143.8 billion (131.2 billion euros) in 2031.