Old devices drop out of circulation as reuse and recycling stall

Singapore consumers upgrade their phones faster than the global average.

A large portion of old devices never re-enter circulation due to a lack of consumer awareness about alternative disposal methods, according to Cinch.

In Singapore, consumers upgrade their phones every 2.7 years, faster than the global average of 3.5 years. Cinch’s data shows that 90% of consumers would choose sustainable options such as reselling or recycling if the process were more seamless.

Cinch’s Consumer Survey found that 60% of consumers keep their old devices after replacement, while 40% dispose of them immediately.

Among those who keep their devices, 32% leave them unused indefinitely, and another 32% sell or trade them in. Meanwhile, 12% pass them on to family or friends, only 20% are recycled, and 4% are disposed of improperly.

Cinch estimates that around 2.9 million devices that remained in drawers in Singapore over the past five years.