Phone recycling demands to increase with the coming of 5G networks

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02:48

China is the largest mobile phone market in the world. With constant deluge of new models, China has one billion old and unused mobile phones. That means there's a great need for recycling, a big challenge for companies related.

Mobile phone recycling company Aishuishou accounts for 10 percent of all recycled phones nationwide. Aihuishou's vice president Xie Yinsheng said the company's collections have seen a major jump in recent years. “We recycled over 10 million mobile phones in 2018, a big year-on-year jump, about 130 percent, due to the rising sales of new phones,” he said.

Aihuishou's recycling volume may seem high, but it's not much compared to the rate at which China consumes new mobile phones. Only one percent of China's mobiles are recycled. But with 5G coming, there could be huge business opportunities for the recycling sector.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology predicted that with the commercialization of 5G, the number of mobile phones disposed could reach more than 500 million by 2020.

Meanwhile, phones are recycled in two ways. Those in good condition will be repaired, re-packaged and sold again as second-hand phones. Those that can't be repaired are stripped of useful metals that can be re-sold to manufacturers of other products.

Moreover, the financial return of breaking the phones down into their original metals is not high – a ton of mobile phones will yield 2.2 kilograms of silver, for example – that's about 700 necklaces. But to make those 700 necklaces, you need 7,000 mobile phones.

“Some companies have set up recycling spots in large shopping malls and if they can turn out primarily second-hand phones, they can make money. But if they are just decomposed into raw materials, the financial returns are not high,” said Du Huanzheng, a professor at Tongji University.

The recycling companies still have a few years to worry about the dilemma. Research company IDC predicted that the number of 5G phones produced this year will hit six million, accounting for only 0.5 percent of all smartphones worldwide. But the proportion will reach 26 percent by 2023.