The Entire World’s Unused Smartphones Together Weigh Over 138 Blue Whales

Everyone I know, myself included, has a stash of unused smartphones gathering dust. I know that because every time my phone conks off, all I need to do is ask one of my friends groups on WhatsApp for a spare phone, and I’m handed one almost immediately to use till my own phone is brought back to life.

But, it turns out, all those unused phones pushed to the back of our drawers and closets are costing us and the environment dearly. And these are a LOT of unused phones. To put it in perspective, a new study compared the weight of the cumulative number of shelved smartphones around the world to that of about 54 Boeing 747-8 aeroplanes (422 tonnes each) or more than 138 blue whales (178 tonnes each).

The study was done by an online used electronics store reBuy and covered 27 countries worldwide. It found that the total number of shelved cell phones per capita accounts for some 23,964 tonnes of e-waste.

Even though the demand for selling or buying refurbished smartphones has increased in recent times, the number of handsets lying unused is bizarre. The study also shows that Sweden, with an average of 1.31 shelved mobile phones per capita, is one of the topmost hoarders of unused smartphones. This means that there are more phones gathering dust in the country than citizens.

"Both Black Friday and Christmas are coming up, which has in the past decade proven to result in enormous sales of items such as new smartphones, e-readers, tablets and games consoles," said Philipp Gattner, the CEO of reBuy in a statement. "With this index, we want to educate people about e-waste and help everyone to consider buying refurbished tech products to give technology a second-life."

The study also focussed on the people selling or gifting used mobile phones. Denmark with an average of 49 percent leads the way, followed by France and Poland with 41 percent each.

According to the study, the unused devices in 27 countries represent a sales value of €1.9 billion in precious metals like gold, silver, palladium, platinum and copper, which are used to manufacture smartphones.

When it comes to discarded mobile phones, computers and other electronic gadgets, India alone generates 2 million metric tonnes of e-waste per annum and is the fifth largest generator after the U.S., China, Japan and Germany. Mobile phones play a major role in the e-waste generated every year since India is also the second largest smartphone market in the world after China, and has more than 650 million total mobile users. 40 percent of the users replace their mobile phones in less than a year, according to a survey done by Quikr, which adds on to the waste. 

The waste that is usually generated by these electronic gadgets often includes toxic substances such as mercury and cadmium or tons of lead glass. One of the best ways to get rid of e-waste is to sell it to retailers or companies that buy and sell old gadgets that are still usable.

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