Donal Hickey: A mountain of unused smartphones but 80% are recyclable

Many of the materials in a phone are mined from the earth, a practice which can be very destructive, so it makes environmental sense to reclaim these metals for re-use rather than mining new ones

More than 80% of a mobile phone is recyclable. The precious metals, plastics, and silver it contains can be extracted and re-used. If phones go to landfill they can cause pollution and contaminate soil and water

At this stage, many households in Ireland probably have an old mobile phone in a drawer, or a forgotten box with other discarded electrical items.

Vodafone, which estimates there are around five million used mobiles in Ireland, has been running campaigns urging people to recycle these devices, replicating similar efforts by the EU, the Government and environmental groups here.