Europe’s Unused Smartphones Hold €1.5 Billion in Metals — But the Real Value Is Elsewhere

Millions of Phones, Billions in Metal: What’s Hiding in Europe’s Drawers

Europe is sitting on a digital treasure chest. According to research by Fraunhofer Austria for the refurbished-electronics marketplace refurbed, around 642 million unused smartphones are lying in drawers and cupboards across the continent. Of those, 211 million could still be refurbished and given a second life, while the remaining 431 million devices contain metals worth more than €1.5 billion — including over 5,000 tonnes of cobalt, 43 tonnes of tungsten and roughly nine tonnes of gold.

In the Czech Republic alone, the study estimates 16.5 million unused smartphones. Around 5.2 million are candidates for renovation, and the raw materials in the other 11.3 million are valued at about €27.6 million (676 million Czech koruna). At a time when the EU is trying to reduce its dependence on imported strategic raw materials, these figures make abandoned electronics look like a domestic mine.

But the reality is less glittering. Only an estimated 5% to 10% of old phones actually enter the recycling stream, says Eva Kykalová of Asekol, which runs a collective take-back system for electronic waste. Logistics, collection, dismantling and processing costs devour most of the theoretical material value. A single phone contains just 10 to 30 milligrams of gold, and its economically recoverable raw-material value is often only a few tens of Czech koruna – roughly the price of a coffee.

The biggest value, however, is not in the metals. A smartphone that still works, or can be repaired, holds far greater worth as a complete product. Refurbed co-founder Kilian Kaminski points to a refurbished iPhone 12 (128GB) that sells for about €191 (4,700 koruna). By contrast, the same device headed for recycling would be worth roughly 20 koruna. In other words, its functional value is about 200 times its scrap value.

Why a Refurbished iPhone 12 Can Be Worth 200 Times Its Scrap Value

The 200-Times Gap: Refurbishing vs. Recycling

Direct comparisons are not perfect – the €191 sale price includes buy-back costs, repair, warranty and logistics – but the scale of the difference is stark. “The main value of a smartphone lies in its functionality as a whole, not just in the raw materials it contains,” Kaminski says. When a device enters the refurbishment chain, it can be tested, fixed and resold to a second user, preserving most of its economic worth. Once it is mechanically or economically beyond repair, it becomes a much lower-value stream of shredded circuit boards and batteries.

Why Only 5–10% of Old Phones Get Recycled

The low collection rate stems from a mix of consumer psychology and practical hurdles. People vastly overestimate the material value of an old phone, typically guessing 200–500 koruna when the real scrap price is closer to 20. Security fears about personal data also discourage hand-in, as does not knowing where to safely drop off a device. Because smartphones are small and unobtrusive, they are easy to keep as a “just in case” spare – often until they are technologically obsolete and beyond economic refurbishment.

The Supply Squeeze in Refurbished Devices

Demand for refurbished electronics is growing faster than the supply of used devices from European households. refurbed, which entered the Czech market in 2024, saw a more than 275% year-on-year jump in ordered products by the end of last year, according to the company’s own data. Smartphones and notebooks dominate sales. Kaminski says that European demand for refurbished goods currently outstrips the ability to source enough used devices locally. That makes old phones sitting in drawers not just future e‑waste but also a scarce commodity.

Critical Raw Materials Act Adds Pressure

The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act sets a 2030 benchmark that recycling capacity should cover at least 25% of the bloc’s annual consumption of strategic raw materials. Experts like Iva Janáková from the VSB – Technical University of Ostrava note that urban mining offers one of the few raw‑material “deposits” fully under EU control. While small IT and telecom equipment makes up only a fraction of total e‑waste, its recycling could be most meaningful for cobalt, copper and precious metals, less so for rare earths. However, meeting the 25% target will require a steep jump in collection rates – and a reversal of the status quo where much of Europe’s e‑waste ends up outside the formal system.

The Ghana Export Drain

Not all discarded European phones stay in Europe. refurbed recently documented sites in Ghana where e‑waste originating from the EU accumulates, often undergoing informal recycling in conditions that harm both the environment and human health. “Discarded electronics burden the environment throughout their whole lifecycle – from raw‑material extraction to informal recycling in countries of the Global South,” Kaminski warns. This outward flow represents a double loss: an environmental hazard and a missed opportunity to recover raw materials the EU is actively trying to secure.

The take‑home message is that a phone’s highest economic and strategic value is captured when it is still a working product. Once it is reduced to scrap, the complex and costly business of extraction makes financial sense only at massive scale.

What Phone Owners Should Do to Capture That Value

For anyone with an old smartphone tucked away, the economics of the refurbishment market point to a few practical steps:

• Sell or trade in while the phone still works. A roughly three‑year‑old device often retains enough functionality to be refurbished. Companies such as refurbed or local buy‑back services can offer far more than its scrap‑metal value. Waiting too long risks losing that higher tier of value entirely.
• Prepare the device properly. Back up your data, perform a factory reset, and remove any linked accounts. This addresses the chief consumer fear about data misuse and makes the phone ready for resale or donation.
• If the phone is beyond repair, use official take‑back channels. Asekol and similar schemes across the EU accept broken electronics and ensure they reach professional recyclers, preventing them from entering informal waste streams. Even if your single device brings only a handful of koruna, aggregated volumes are what make the recycling infrastructure economically viable.
• Don’t let a phone become “too old” to refurbish. A handset that sits in a drawer for another two or three years may age out of the market for refurbished devices, destroying most of its economic worth. Acting early preserves the value that the secondary market is ready to pay for.