Cellular Phone Scrap

What Is Cellular Phone Scrap?

Cellular phone scrap is obsolete mobile phones with or without batteries, sourced from consumers, businesses, and retailers. Each phone contains:

• Printed circuit boards with gold, copper, zinc, silver, and lead

• Battery (often lithium-ion, sometimes nickel/cadmium—must be handled separately)

• Plastic, glass, and minor metal components

Phones may range from flip phones and first-generation smartphones to today’s advanced handsets. Disposed in landfill, phones pollute the environment; recycled properly, they recover valuable metals and feed the circular economy.

Industry, Pricing, and Market Details

How Are Prices Determined?

• Model/type: Smartphone boards usually have more precious metal than basic handsets

• Weight: It takes 3–5 cell phones to weigh a pound for scrap sale

• Battery removal: Some buyers require batteries removed for safety and easier e-scrap processing

• Location and quantity: Bulk loads sold to major yards, smelters, or ScrapMonster’s Marketplace often fetch premium rates

Example Price (August 2020):

• North America (US East/West/Midwest): $4.25/lb (model/board specifics vary)

• See current Electronics Scrap Prices

• Check Scrap Yard Price Table

Where to Sell and Buy Cellular Phone Scrap

• Local Yards: Find buyers using Scrap Yard Finder

• Major US buyers: Green Secure (CA), Global Material Recycling (TX), Gold Metal Recyclers (TX), ABS Recycling Ltd (CA)

• Marketplace: Sell Offers for Electronics Scrap, Buy Offers

• Bulk: Yards and refiners pay more for bulk loads; minimum quantity and battery removal often required

Environmental and Business Benefits

• Diverts lead, zinc, lithium, and hazardous plastics from land/water pollution

• Recovers gold, silver, copper—reducing demand for mining, supporting circular supply chains

• Supports green jobs at recycling facilities, B2B trade, and tech refurbishers

• UN report: Recycling 41 cell phones yields 1 gram of gold; large-scale recycling scales this impact exponentially

ScrapMonster Core Services & Industry Integration

• Live Scrap Metal and E-Scrap Prices

• Industry News and Market Trends

• Marketplace Trading Platform

• Metal Price Analytics

• Scrap Yard Locator

• Equipment for E-Scrap Processing

• Community Q&A and Support

• Register for Premium Data/Analytics

Fun Facts: Mobile Recycling & E-Waste

• Each smartphone contains ~0.034g of gold—multiply by billions for global impact!

• Enough copper in 1,000 recycled phones to wire a small home

• The plastic from recycled phones can be used in street furniture, playgrounds, and car parts

• Mobile recycling helps close the gap on e-waste—50 million metric tons per year and growing

Related Materials & Further Reading

• CPU Processors E-Scrap

• Hard Drives Recycling

• Memory Chips Scrap

• Power Supplies Scrap

For the best prices, analytics, sustainable trade, and e-scrap deals globally, start each project at ScrapMonster.com—North America’s most trusted recycling network!

Updated October 2025 | ScrapMonster Inc. | © 2009–2025 – All rights reserved