The average adult will own 19 phones in their lifetime, study finds

The typical smartphone person additionally has two mobiles tucked away in drawers, though 13 % have twice as many – proudly owning 4 or extra.

It additionally emerged solely 29 % have recycled their cell phone earlier than swapping in for a brand new mannequin – with two in 5 (41 %) confessing they don’t know what to do with previous units.

Lars Silberbauer, CMO at HMD International, the house of Nokia telephones, which commissioned the analysis to rejoice the launch of cell phone subscription service, “Round”, stated: “Smartphones make up a major contribution to world e-waste – and we wish to change that.

“It is crucial units have a number of lives, and by guaranteeing they’re recycled on the finish of their lifecycle, we can assist hold units out of landfill.”

The examine additionally discovered virtually half of Brits (48 %) will grasp onto previous units “in case of emergencies”, whereas a 3rd (34 %) will hand them onto household and associates.

And regardless of with the ability to pocket some money from doing so, solely 1 / 4 (27 %) have traded in or half exchanged a used handset.

It emerged two-thirds of respondents (67 %) have changed a cell phone that’s nonetheless in good working order, with 44 % wanting the most recent software program and options on their sensible gadget.

An additional 39 % have changed a working cellular as its battery life was beginning to dwindle, and 26 % have merely taken benefit of a free improve on their contract.

And regardless of 46 % agreeing it’s simple to recycle an previous cell phone, virtually half (47 %) don’t really know find out how to go about doing so.

Solely 28 % of the cell phone customers polled have taken the sustainable route of buying a second-hand smartphone or pill.

That is regardless of one in three (32 %) saying they’d be extra doubtless to purchase a pre-owned gadget in the event that they knew it was kinder to the planet than shopping for a brand-new mannequin.

The highest causes for purchasing second-hand embody attempting to make extra sustainable buying selections (70 %), believing shopping for model new could be a waste of cash (48 %), and agreeing a second-hand cellular can work simply in addition to a brand new one (52 %).

Nonetheless, of the fifth (19 %) of respondents that might be much less more likely to make investments their money in a second-hand gadget, 61 % stated it’s as a result of they don’t assume the {hardware} would work as effectively.

The analysis, carried out through OnePoll, additionally discovered a 3rd imagine the person actions they take, akin to recycling their e-waste, don’t have an effect on the surroundings and sustainability.

Lars Silberbauer added: “We wish to reward those who share the identical values as us, and actively incentivise customers to maintain telephones in pockets for longer and work in the direction of extending the general lifecycle of units.”