What is the share of recycled materials in your phone?

In recent years, phone manufacturers have been trying to increase the share of recycled materials in their products, and although in reality, the industry average is still far from the idea of ​​a completely recycled phone in terms of percentage, parts of your phone are even today made of recycled materials; A share that will increase in the future.

While leading brands have taken significant steps in this field, global recycling of phones and returning materials to the technology consumption cycle still faces major technical and logistical challenges.

The importance of using recycled materials in phones

The production of a phone requires the extraction of rare minerals such as aluminum, cobalt, lithium, copper and other elements. A process that is not only very polluting, but also faces resource limitations and has serious environmental and social effects. Therefore, the use of recycled materials has two main purposes Reducing the carbon footprint and Supply chain security follows Recycling materials and moving towards a circular economy can ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts.

Recycled materials in phones

Various materials are used to produce phones, and for this reason, manufacturers have focused on using recycled materials in various parts of smartphones.

Aluminum

Considering that aluminum recycling requires 95% less energy than raw aluminum production, this element is considered one of the most stable and valuable options for recycling in the phone industry. The quality of recycled aluminum is almost the same as original aluminum, and thus, it can be recycled many times without losing its properties.

Many companies produce phone cases with a very high percentage of recycled aluminum. This material is usually used in the frame, main chassis and some internal structural parts, and because these parts need aluminum the most, they greatly reduce the carbon footprint of the device.

Plastic

In recent years, recycled plastic has found the most presence in mid-range and economic phones, because its production is relatively cheaper and it has high color acceptability and shaping capabilities. In addition, it can be used in many parts of the phone without reducing the quality.

Using recycled aluminum in the phone
Credit: Sharp

Samsung, Motorola, Nokia and even Sony use recycled plastics in parts such as the back cover, camera module parts and internal parts such as board holders. Its main challenge is to maintain the appearance quality and mechanical resistance, and for this reason, despite being widely used in the mid-range, it is less used in flagship phones.

Base metals

These metals play a key role in the electronic circuits and internal modules of the phone. Tin is used in soldering boards, and recycled metal can be substituted in sustainable and low-risk solders. Tungsten is usually used in vibration motors and weight parts, and copper is used in cables, coils and electronic boards.

Extraction of base metals from mobile phones requires complex and sometimes chemical methods.
Credit: Baranozdemir, iStock

It is difficult to recycle these metals because they are usually in very small sizes and in complicated places, and it is expensive to separate them from multilayer printed circuits by mechanical or chemical methods. Their traditional recycling is not economical in many countries and they are often used by incineration or total melting of the device. At the same time, some manufacturers such as Apple and Fairphone provide some of these metals from reliable recycling sources to reduce mining.

lithium

Lithium is one of the main elements in lithium-ion batteries for phones, and its use is increasing. Currently, recycled lithium is very low compared to the market demand, and because batteries are a combination of active layers, electrolyte and other materials, the process of re-extraction is complicated. Although the chemical recycling of lithium is progressing, it still has a lot of cost and limitations. However, there will probably be significant growth in this sector in the next 5 to 10 years.

Phone battery recycling is one of the most important areas of attention to environmental effects.
Credit: Sims Life Cycle

Cobalt

Cobalt also plays an important role in battery production, thermal stability and charging capacity, but it has problems. A large part of the world’s cobalt is extracted from mines in the Congo, where serious environmental problems and even ethical issues surrounding the exploitation of human power have been reported. For this reason, companies are moving towards recycled cobalt or low-cobalt batteries.

Cobalt recycling has a high economic value and unlike lithium, it is economical. Some manufacturers source a significant percentage of their cobalt from recycled sources. However, the challenge of separating cobalt from the cathode structure requires complex chemical processes that are not yet possible for everyone.

Various recyclable iPhone parts
Credit: Apple Insider

rare elements

Other materials such as indium are also used in parts of mobile phones, including vibration motors, speakers, optical lenses and coatings, displays and magnetic alloys.

This category has the lowest share in recycling because both their quantity in each phone is very small and many factories do not have the necessary infrastructure to separate and recover them economically. Thus, they still rely on mining.

Pioneering companies in production with recycled materials

Many companies have turned to using recycled materials both due to government policies and to protect the environment, and among them some leading brands are also present.

Apple

Apple is following an accelerated program to use recycled materials and has a special focus on recycling elements such as cobalt, rare earth elements, gold and tin, which are very complex and energy-intensive to extract, refine and recycle. One of its most important developments is the cobalt revolution in batteries. Apple has committed to sourcing 100% of the cobalt used in its self-designed batteries from recycled sources by the end of 2025. What he achieved by using 100% recycled cobalt in the iPhone 17 series.

On the other hand, it provides almost all the rare elements used in the magnets of the speakers and the magsif system from recycled sources, and 100% of the gold used in the plating of the boards and all the tin required for soldering are recycled. The company uses proprietary tools such as the Daisy robot, which can separate iPhone parts with high precision and extract materials that traditional recyclers cannot.

Samsung

With the Galaxy for the Planet program, Samsung follows a different path in the field of bio-sustainability. The main focus is the use of plastics extracted from fishing nets in the ocean; Substances that are a serious threat to marine ecosystems. These plastics are used in various parts such as keys, internal compartments and speaker modules.

Samsung cooperation with recycling companies
Credit: Shane Maritch

The company has also increased the use of recycled aluminum and recycled glass. In the S24 series, a significant amount of protective glass and parts of the frame are produced from recycled materials. In the battery of the Ultra model, about 50% of cobalt is provided from recycled sources, which is a great improvement in the Android world. In terms of packaging, Samsung has one of the most sustainable packaging systems among major phone manufacturers, using 100% recycled or plant-based materials.

Google

In the Pixel series, Google has a special focus on building the body with recycled materials, so that all of Google’s new hardware products use 100% recycled aluminum to build the body. Google’s goal by the end of 2025 is that at least 50% of all plastics in its products, including Pixel phones, will be made from recycled materials. The company focuses on larger, more recyclable parts that have the greatest impact on reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing machines.

Xiaomi

By expanding its environmental program, Xiaomi has increased the share of aluminum and recycled plastic, so that in some Redmi and Xiaomi 15 models, it uses recycled plastics in parts such as the internal frame, buttons and camera modules.

Xiaomi is looking to use less plastic in packaging.

The company is also committed to reducing the generation of e-waste in its supply chain and in recent years has activated a collection and recycling program for old devices in various markets. Although its percentages are not as high as Apple or Google, its growth rate and scope of using recycled materials in its products show that it is quickly becoming one of the main players in smartphone bio-sustainability.

HMD

HMD Global has been committed to sustainability and the use of recycled materials in its products by introducing phones such as the Nokia X30 5G and Nokia G60 5G. For example, the frame of the X30 5G is completely made of recycled aluminum, and the plastic part behind it also contains about 65% recycled plastic. In G60 5G, both the back frame and the side frame are made with about 60% recycled plastic.

This company pays attention to sustainable packaging and produces its product boxes with recyclable materials or materials with controlled origins. Also, with the aim of reducing electronic waste, it follows methods such as long-term software updates to encourage users to keep the phone for a longer period of time.

Fairphone

In the mobile industry, no company is as committed to sustainability and ethics as Fairphone. The company has defined new standards in the use of recycled materials and replaceable designs, and with the introduction of Gen 6, it showed that it is still the greenest brand in the mobile industry. This model is made with more than 50% recycled or sustainably extracted materials, which includes 14 types of materials such as aluminum, copper, steel, tin, nickel, magnesium, indium, gold, silver, cobalt, tungsten, recycled plastics and rare elements.

It also has the lowest carbon footprint among the phones of this company, and its completely modular design, with the possibility of replacing the battery, camera, display and other parts, greatly increases the life of the device. In addition, E-waste is neutral and for every phone sold, the same amount of electronic waste is collected and recycled.

Its assembly process is also carried out in factories where workers’ rights, fair wages and healthy working conditions are monitored. Along with this ethical and environmental approach, the impressive features of its phones prove that sustainability and user experience can exist simultaneously in the same product.

Obstacles to using recycled materials

Mixing materials and small parts

Small parts and parts that are mixtures of multiple materials, such as adhesives, display layers, and batteries, make the separation process difficult.

economic efficiency

Currently, the recycling of some elements is only cost-effective on a very large scale or with new technologies, and is otherwise more expensive than extraction or primary supply.

Logistics

Most of the users keep the old phones or do not properly deliver them to recycling centers. On the other hand, the safe and economic recycling infrastructure is limited in many regions of the world, which causes a low recycling percentage, especially in the field of electronic components.

Electronic recycling devices should be easily accessible to people.
Credit: Camden Council

Policies and standards

The lack of binding laws or economic incentives for manufacturers and recyclers slows down progress in this field, but on the other hand, the European Union and some countries apply pressure for longer life and access to spare parts, which has positive effects.

Phone recycling and repair requirements are becoming increasingly important.
Credit: Getty Images

future need

For the mobile industry to be more bio-sustainable, it is necessary to coordinate different sectors from production to consumption. There should be a mechanism for consumers to hand over old phones to authorized recycling centers or give them to other people to use. Also, the attitude towards recycled phones should be improved so that more of them are used.

Governments should consider financial incentives for recyclers and create a legal requirement for a certain percentage of recycled materials. Also, the establishment of right-to-repair laws and the requirement to extend the software support period can reduce the demand for replacement. On the other hand, manufacturers should invest in modern technologies for separation and recycling of elements and have clear reporting regarding the weight percentage of recycled materials so that users and investors can make a real comparison.

In the future, more parts of phones will be made from recycled materials.
Credit: eSmart Recycling

summary

Due to limited resources and the need for industries to be bio-sustainable, the phone manufacturing industry has moved towards the use of recycled materials, and this issue has become a key trend in the policy of major manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung. A process that is important both from the environmental point of view and from the economic point of view and the security of the supply chain. Despite the advances, the road to realizing a completely recycled and carbon-neutral phone is a long one, accelerating as technology advances, legal requirements and societal attitudes improve. It is only with this synergy that we can hope that the share of recycled materials in phones will turn from a symbolic trend into a real global standard.

Sources: Which, Nord, e-Waste Monitor, Science Direct, Ars Technica