According the EPA, the US alone currently plays host to around 500 million obsolete, broken or otherwise unused cell phones, with about 130 million more added each year. This amounts to around 65,000 tons of waste per year! Less than 2 % of mobile phones are currently being recycled through refurbishment and resale to developing country consumers in Latin American and Asian countries, or disassembled for gold and other parts, which raises the question of the other 98% that must be either sitting around in landfills, or in peoples bottom drawers.
