The mobile-phone industry thrives on novelty. A new handset's launch often resembles a religious ceremony and breathless hype greets every announcement of this or that additional feature. Among phone addicts, sporting an out-of-date device is a serious faux pas. According to a recent study by Recon Analytics, a market-research firm, the average American phone is replaced every 22 months. All of which is good for phonemakers, who get to flog more of their wares. But it raises the question of what happens to the shunned phones of yesteryear, many of which are still perfectly serviceable and most of which contain goodies that could be recycled if there was a way of harvesting them efficiently.
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