One billion waste cell phones in China
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A waste smart phone [File photo: baidu.com]

China has about one billion waste cell phones, with the recovery rate being only about 2 percent, reported jjckb.cn.

A man surnamed Fang in Shanghai recently sold two old cell phones at the price of six yuan (about 1 US dollar) to a recycling store. The two phones had cost him nearly 2,000 yuan (about 291 dollars).

"It is as cheap as recyclable rubbish, but I have no choice as there is no use for me", said Fang.

Many others would rather keep their waste cell phones instead of recycling them, as the old gadgets are not worth very much, reported jjckb.cn.

According to data from China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CART), 560 million cell phones were sold on the Chinese mainland in 2016. It is predicted that the number of new phones is equal to the number of waste ones, and 400 million to 500 million will be replaced per year.

"The recovery rate in China is only 1 percent to 2 percent, much lower than western countries, so we still need to educate people. People are also afraid of information disclosure if they sell their waste cell phones to recycle stores," said Zheng Fujiang, CEO of an online recycle company.

Professionals believe that if the waste cell phones are not recycled properly, heavy elements used in the devices could be absorbed into the soil and water, affecting human and environmental health.

Author： 　　　Source：CRI　　　 Editor：Yang Fan