Keep or toss: what do Europeans do with old devices?

It doesn’t matter what type of device people have, their main choice for disposal if not using it anymore is to just keep it in their household as data show. 

In 2024, more than half (51%) of EU individuals aged between 16 and 74 kept their old mobile phone or smartphone in their household, while 18% gave or sold the device to someone else. Only 11% decided to recycle it and 2% to throw it away without recycling. 

When it came to laptops and tablets, 34% of the people decided to keep them at home and 12% to give them away or sell them. Just as smartphones, 11% opted for recycling and another 1% for throwing it away. 

Old desktop computers had a higher recycling rate than previously mentioned devices, at 15%. However, 19% of individuals still preferred to keep the device at home. Another 9% gave or sold it to someone else, and 2% threw it away without recycling.

Source dataset: isoc_eco_dd