Almost 4 in 10 Americans have a ‘junk drawer’ full of their old electronics. It’s because of a very specific anxiety

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.

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. From 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%. Funded 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. Why the drawer wins Two 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. The 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. Recycling 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 . Just 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. We 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. In 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. Getting at why people don’t recycle Researchers 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. Instead 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. Knowing 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. Getting people to let go Storage 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. We 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. It might be a good time to remember what old devices you’re holding onto and revisit your reasons for not letting go of them. 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 This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Subscribe to Fortune Gulf Brief . 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