refurbed analysis shows 7.6 million unused smartphones in Ireland hold €18.5 million in recyclable raw materials

A new analysis by Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH in cooperation with refurbed, Ireland’s leading online marketplace for refurbished devices, examined the scale of unused smartphones in European households and their refurbishment potential. The study estimates that around 643 million devices are currently lying idle, of which 211 million could be professionally refurbished. Beyond this, the stockpile of unused phones contains enough raw materials to help meet Europe’s demand for critical metals and rare earths for years to come.

According to the report “Potential of Unused Smartphones in European Households”, professional recycling could return to the European value chain over 5,000 tons of cobalt, 129 tons of magnesium, 431 tons of tin, 43 tons of tungsten, 1 ton of palladium and 9 tons of gold.

The material value of all metals contained in these discarded smartphones amounts to approximately €1.1 billion (raw material prices as of February 2025). For Ireland alone, the figures are considerable: an estimated 7.6 million discarded smartphones are lying unused in households. Of these, around 5.1 million could still be recycled, yielding valuable resources such as 102 tons of cobalt, 5.1 tons of gold, 510 kilograms of tin, 1.53 tons of tungsten, 15.3 tons of magnesium and just over 0.1 ton of palladium. According to Fraunhofer Austria, the total raw material value of these unused smartphones amounts to approximately €18.5 million (based on raw material prices in February 2025).

“The concentration of metals in one ton of e-waste can exceed that in one ton of ore-bearing earth extracted through conventional mining. Mining in old smartphones can therefore be worthwhile,” says Paul Rudorf, project manager at Fraunhofer Austria, regarding the results.

Only a fraction of the resources bound in old, unused smartphones are currently recovered. The global recycling rate for smartphones is just 7.5%, and in Europe, around 10% of discarded devices are recycled. The majority are either illegally exported or remain in households. At the same time, the EU’s dependence on raw materials from abroad is intensifying. For this reason, the EU has set itself the goal of covering 25% of its raw material demand through recycling by 2030.

“There are real treasures in our drawers: millions of old smartphones that can either be refurbished for reuse or recycled. Returning your devices not only helps the environment but also gives valuable raw materials a second chance,” says refurbed Co-Founder Kilian Kaminski. “Politics and industry must create clear incentives and make investments so that more devices are refurbished, raw materials recovered, and sustainable alternatives promoted. To achieve this, we need better take-back systems to increase recycling rates, clear rules for repairability and longevity, and investments in modern recycling technologies. This way we can collectively reduce e-waste, secure valuable resources, and make a decisive contribution to a functioning circular economy across Europe.”

Since 2024, refurbed has provided a trade-in service in Ireland, helping minimise e-waste levels and repurpose old tech. refurbed is playing an active role, allowing Irish consumers to recycle their old devices, give them a new purpose and recover the valuable raw materials they contain. The refurbishment process is continuously monitored and refined, setting a higher benchmark for quality in the refurbished tech industry. To date, refurbed has saved over 270,000 tonnesof CO2, 900 tonnes of e-waste, and 94 billion litres of water since its founding in 2017, and has planted over 6.6 million trees.