by Dr. Cadmium » Sat Dec 03, 2011 9:27 pm
I deal in used/scrap phones.
Getting a large volume of them is difficult. This is why you see those "recycle your old phone" boxes in stores, it greatly cuts down on the labor involved in collecting them.
Most cell phones are worth more for refurbishing and parts than for scrap.
Taking them apart is extremely labor-intensive - notice how this facility is overseas, where labor is cheaper.
Honest precious metal refining operations typically have very small margins, but they do a very high volume of material. Overhead costs for facilities that shred and process ewaste can be millions of dollars per year.