"When you buy a new phone, it's already outdated." Xiao Chen, who works in Futian District, Shenzhen, lamented. With the continuous acceleration of mobile phone updates, how to deal with old phones has become a big problem.

Last year, 425 million mobile phones were sold in China, and about 400 million mobile phones were eliminated

Xiao Chen's confusion is not an isolated case. According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the number of mobile phone users in China has now reached 1.146 billion. In 2014, China's mobile phone shipments were 425 million, while the number of new users was only 56.98 million. This set of disparity in data shows that China produces a large number of idle mobile phones every year.

If you want to buy a new phone, what should you do with your old phone? Aunt Zhang in Shenzhen is fiddling with her almost brand new Apple phone and is studying how to download stock trading software. Aunt Zhang's daughter is a loyal "Apple fan". Every year after the new product is released, she will be the first to "try it out". The old mobile phones she replaces are either idle or used by her family.

Unlike Ms. Liu, Mr. Wang, who is also in Shenzhen, chose to transfer his old mobile phone. Relying on the unique advantages of Huaqiangbei, Mr. Wang can always buy new phones as soon as they are released. But he never keeps his old mobile phone with him, but sells it immediately. "First, the mobile phones I sell are also relatively new models, and the market demand is huge. Second, it is a waste to keep old mobile phones at home. Reselling them can make my funds flow."

"90% of the new mobile phones in China every year are trade-ins." Sun Wenping, president of the Shenzhen Mobile Phone Industry Association, said. This also means that while 425 million mobile phones were sold in 2014, nearly 400 million mobile phones were eliminated. There are reasons for technological progress. For example, from 2G to 4G, many people use smart phones. "Some people change their mobile phones because they are damaged or not fashionable enough."

If handled properly, discarded mobile phones are a huge "gold mine"

The large-scale and rapid replacement of mobile phones not only gives people more "collections", but also significantly increases the amount of electronic waste.

Sun Wenping introduced that at present, most of the recycled mobile phones are sorted, refurbished and then flow into the second-hand market for resale; mobile phones that cannot be used directly are simply disassembled, some parts are reused, and others are discarded as garbage; those that cannot be used at all are directly incinerated as garbage.

Xiao Zhang, who is engaged in mobile phone transactions in Huaqiangbei, said that most of the mobile phones here are used for refurbishment and resale, or parts are reused, "as for where the useless parts go, it is unknown."

The potential threat of discarded mobile phones to the environment has caused people's concerns.

Some experts pointed out that there are at least 20 substances that may be harmful to the environment in a discarded mobile phone. Mobile phones are mainly composed of plastic shells, lithium batteries, circuit boards, displays and other parts. These parts contain toxic and harmful substances such as lead, chromium, and mercury. If they are not handled properly or discarded at will, they will seriously pollute the soil and groundwater, posing a huge threat to human health. "One used mobile phone battery can pollute 60,000 liters of water, which can meet the drinking water needs of a person for a lifetime." However, if handled properly, discarded mobile phones can also be a huge "gold mountain". It is understood that the internal parts of mobile phones contain a variety of valuable materials, including 0.01% gold, 20%-25% copper, and 40%-50% renewable plastics. After recycling, the discarded mobile phones will be disassembled in the factory, among which the general parts will be crushed. The motherboard is used to refine rare and precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. "Waste is a resource that has been put in the wrong place." Sun Wenping said that in theory, 150 grams of gold, 3 kilograms of silver and 100 kilograms of copper can be extracted from 1 ton of discarded mobile phones. Far higher than the refining ratio of ore, whether from the perspective of economic benefits, comprehensive resource utilization or environmental protection, the efficient recycling and utilization of used mobile phones are of great significance. "It is not an exaggeration to call it an "urban mine."

Mobile phone recycling still needs government guidance and policy support

"In fact, the biggest problem in mobile phone recycling at present still comes from users." Sun Wenping believes that mobile phones are small in size and do not take up space like large appliances such as refrigerators and televisions, which must be handled. Many people keep unused mobile phones at home and throw them away or sell them as scrap when they move, which greatly increases the possibility of polluting the environment. "Government departments should strengthen guidance in this regard."

Shenzhen Taolu Information Technology Co., Ltd. is an innovative enterprise specializing in the trading of used mobile phones. The company's chairman Lu Haibin said that many people think that only mobile phones that can be turned on and used can be recycled. This is a misunderstanding. "Even unusable mobile phones have value. As long as the circuit board exists, they are all "treasures."

In 2013, Taolu Technology cooperated with Longgang District, Shenzhen City, and set up public welfare environmental protection recycling service points for used mobile phones in 8 communities. Residents can exchange old mobile phones for souvenirs at the service points. At the same time, Taolu will provide 1.5 yuan of public welfare scholarships for each recycled mobile phone.

"The activity was very effective." Li Bo, director of the Fenghuang Community Service Center in Buji Street, Longgang District, said that taking out old mobile phones not only supports environmental protection but also does public welfare. Residents are very enthusiastic about participating, "Some people even bring four or five mobile phones at a time."

Another concern of users about mobile phone recycling is the risk of information leakage. Resident Ms. Xia believes that nowadays everyone uses smart phones, and important information such as bank cards and ID cards have been bound to mobile phones. If they are not cleaned up, the consequences of leakage will be serious. "Anyway, it won't make much money, so it's better to keep it at home."

"This is related to the lack of supervision on mobile phone recycling." Some experts pointed out that China's old mobile phone recycling system is not perfect. The "Regulations on the Recycling and Treatment of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products" implemented in 2011 include refrigerators, televisions, etc., but mobile phones are not included.

The costs of dismantling old mobile phones, refining precious metals, and garbage disposal are not low, and currently there is no national subsidy, which also makes it difficult for regular businesses.

"Fortunately, the country has taken it seriously." Sun Wenping said. According to reports, in 2014, the Environmental Protection Department of the National Development and Reform Commission publicly solicited opinions from the public on the "Key Points for Adjustment of the Catalog of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products (Draft for Comments)", and included mobile phones as a key project. This indicates that mobile phone recycling will end the "black household" status and open the door to encourage formal companies to carry out mobile phone recycling.

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