{"slug": "almost-4-in-10-americans-have-a-junk-drawer-full-of-their-old-electronics-its-of", "title": "Almost 4 in 10 Americans have a ‘junk drawer’ full of their old electronics. It’s because of a very specific anxiety", "summary": "A survey of 4,000 Americans found that 39% store old electronics in drawers rather than recycling or reselling them, driven by data security anxiety and lack of knowledge about disposal options. The National Science Foundation-funded study reveals that data fears increase storage rates by up to 14%, while recycling awareness boosts recycling but reduces reselling.", "body_md": "Think about the last smartphone, tablet or smartwatch you stopped using. Odds are it is not in a recycling bin or a new owner’s hands; it is sitting in a drawer.\n\nFrom our [survey of 4,000 American consumers](https://doi.org/10.3390/su18115239), we found the single most common thing people did with a device they were finished with was nothing at all: 39% simply stored it. Recycling and reselling, outcomes better for the environment, each accounted for only about 1 in 10 devices. Throwing devices in the trash claimed another 9%.\n\nFunded [by the National Science Foundation](https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2037535&HistoricalAwards=false), our multidisciplinary team blended our expertise in [causal inference](https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=cmPdAUYAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate), [sustainability](https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=A9RAOJEAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate) and [cybersecurity](https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=fHGXeWAAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate), to work on the tangled question of what people do with their consumer electronics when they’re done using them. We used statistical models to connect what people say – that is, their stated knowledge and attitudes – to what they actually did.\n\n## Why the drawer wins\n\nTwo main forces keep devices in the drawer. The first is anxiety about data. People who worried that recycling or reselling a device would compromise their data were 14% and 9% more likely to store it instead.\n\nThe second force is simply not knowing how to. People who did not know where to recycle were 10% more likely to hold onto a device, and many also kept old gadgets as a perceived data backup.\n\nRecycling and reselling electronics are a lot easier than a lot of people think. In the U.S., the national chain [Best Buy](https://www.bestbuy.com/site/services/recycling/pcmcat149900050025.c) accepts devices for recycling; reselling online is convenient with vendors such as [Back Market](https://www.backmarket.com/en-us/buyback/home) and [Gazelle](https://www.gazelle.com/trade-in).\n\nJust be sure to wipe data before parting with [a phone](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-remove-your-personal-information-you-get-rid-your-phone) or [computer](https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/computers/how-to-wipe-a-computer-clean-of-personal-data-a5849951358/). Also, remove the device from your account, for instance with [Apple](https://support.apple.com/en-us/118412) or [Android](https://techcult.com/remove-old-android-device-from-google/). Unless you do, the device stays locked to you, and no one else can use it.\n\nWe also compared what people intended to do with what they had actually done. This led to a telling detail: Data security worries led to people storing devices at a greater rate than they said they intended to.\n\nIn other words, the fear of leaking personal data kicks in only when someone is facing the real decision of whether to hand off their device to a recycler or secondhand buyer.\n\n## Getting at why people don’t recycle\n\nResearchers have long [studied why people do or don’t recycle electronics](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128297): Convenience, awareness and incentives showed up as affecting the decision. But prior work examined recycling as the only option.\n\nInstead of considering the issue as a yes-or-no vote on recycling, we treat it as a comparison between different options: Storing, reselling, donating, trading in, recycling and throwing away the device in the trash. When modeling this way, trade-offs became visible.\n\nKnowing where to recycle, for instance, made recycling 47% more likely, but it also pulled people away from reselling, which is often the more environmentally friendly choice. You can explore the survey results in our [interactive dashboards](https://public.tableau.com/shared/ZY936CGRH?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link). https://www.youtube.com/embed/HmEhTIMfZiI?wmode=transparent&start=44 Recycling your old devices is easier then you might think.\n\n## Getting people to let go\n\nStorage is the worst of both worlds: A device sitting unused for years loses its resale value, and erasing its data only gets harder over time. The good news is that the main barriers – data concerns and not knowing where to turn – can be addressed with better information.\n\nWe are experimenting with information interventions that walk people through their options, including how to securely wipe their data. We are testing [nudges](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2008.09.003) with [randomized, controlled trials](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1561467/full) to test what leads people to give their old electronics a second life.\n\nIt might be a good time to remember what old devices you’re holding onto and revisit your reasons for not letting go of them.\n\n[Eric Williams](https://theconversation.com/profiles/eric-williams-226214), Professor of Sustainability, [Rochester Institute of Technology](https://theconversation.com/institutions/rochester-institute-of-technology-1379); [Payam Saeedi](https://theconversation.com/profiles/payam-saeedi-2462268), Ph.D. Candidate in Sustainability, [Rochester Institute of Technology](https://theconversation.com/institutions/rochester-institute-of-technology-1379), and [Stacey Watson](https://theconversation.com/profiles/stacey-watson-2703009), Assistant Professor of Computer Science, [University of Waterloo](https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-waterloo-1284)\n\n*This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.*\n\n**Subscribe to Fortune Gulf Brief**. Every Tuesday, this new newsletter delivers clear-eyed, authoritative intelligence on the deals, decisions, policies, and power shifts shaping one of the world’s most consequential regions, written for the people who need to act on it.\n\n[Sign up here.](https://fortune.com/newsletters/fortune-gulf-brief?&itm_source=fortune&itm_medium=nl_article_tout&itm_campaign=gulf_brief)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/almost-4-in-10-americans-have-a-junk-drawer-full-of-their-old-electronics-its-of", "canonical_source": "https://fortune.com/2026/06/21/old-electronics-junk-drawer-data-security-anxiety-survey/", "published_at": "2026-06-21 15:02:02+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-21 15:33:27.147696+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-safety", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Best Buy", "Back Market", "Gazelle", "Apple", "Android", "National Science Foundation"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/almost-4-in-10-americans-have-a-junk-drawer-full-of-their-old-electronics-its-of", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/almost-4-in-10-americans-have-a-junk-drawer-full-of-their-old-electronics-its-of.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/almost-4-in-10-americans-have-a-junk-drawer-full-of-their-old-electronics-its-of.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/almost-4-in-10-americans-have-a-junk-drawer-full-of-their-old-electronics-its-of.jsonld"}}