Almost half of Irish people are hanging on to old tech devices, such as phones, according to a new survey.
Research from Swappie showed that while 47% of people know they can sell their old iPhone, they hadn't considered doing so.
Of the 1,000 people surveyed between March and April, 48% of respondents with a broken smartphone did not know they could get cash for it.
When it comes to passing on old devices, only 21% said they would consider selling their old smartphone to an online store.
A majority said they would prefer to instead sell to a friend or relative (45%), an electronics or retail shop (37%) or to another consumer via a marketplace (35%).
More than half of respondents (56%) wanted to keep their functioning device as a spare phone; and one-in-four simply felt it was too much effort to sell the device.
A box with smart phones. Picture by: RayArt Graphics / Alamy Stock PhotoNewstalk Tech Correspondent Jess Kelly told The Hard Shoulder there can be sentimentality involved.
"I can't bring myself to get rid of my old tech, and I'm sure I'm not the only person," she said.
"I have my old Walkman that still has, probably, a Westlife tape in it.
"I have my old Discman, I have my old Creative Zen, I have my old GameBoy Colour".
She said some people want to keep them as spares.
"A lot of us do have an emergency phone; even though you're very careful with your phone, some people just keep it for that worrying moment."
Jess said we're being encouraged to recycle what we no longer use.
"If you have a recent enough smartphone, by engaging with some of the refurb retailers... they'll buy the tech off you, and they will then ensure that all the data is erased properly.
"Then they will take the different elements out.
"If a phone is still fine and functioning - maybe it needs a new battery or screen replaced - they'll do that, get it to a certain standard and then resell it".
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