According to mobile phone trade-in website FoneBank, only 20% of UK consumers are recycling their mobiles but those that do can recycle their old mobiles for cash.
A survey it conducted to find out what people did with their mobile found that 28% put them away in a drawer while 23% simply threw them away.
"It's crazy that a lot of people out there are still just chucking their phones in the bin when they no longer have any use for them," said Mark Harrison, director of Fonebank.
Mobile phones now come under the WEEE directive, a piece of European legislation which aims to reduce the amount of electronic waste that ends up in landfill sites. It requires member nations to collect and recycle the equivalent of 4kg of e-waste for every person living in the country.
Manufacturers, importers and retailers of electronic equipment are obliged to put systems in place that allow customers to recycle their obsolete devices free of charge although households are under no obligation
During December some six million handsets will have been exchanged.
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