From plastic to paper, cardboard to electronics, today, there are many ways we can recycle unwanted materials. But when it comes to recycling smartphones, when they’re no longer wanted, more often than not they are left in a drawer, and lay there, forgotten.

The point of mobile device upgrade is an exciting time for a consumer. It means no longer having to put up with an old smartphone that is slow, has a battery life of about three hours, and displays the dreaded ‘storage full’ message every time they go to take a picture, or download a song.

The secondary market for mobile devices has matured significantly in the last 5 to 7 years.

The pre-smartphone days gave the secondary mobile device market a bad reputation.

Locked into two-year contracts for devices, any accident led to an inevitable trip to the carrier to receive a refurbished device. Malfunctioning refurbished devices caused reporters and bloggers to create content all about the dangers of embracing the secondary market.