In this day and age when smartphone users often change their handset it appears that in the UK many are still missing out on cash by recycling their old mobile phone, as according to a poll commissioned by Orange, £2.7 billion worth of devices are languishing in UK homes rather than earning that extra dosh by being recycled.

Apparently 40 percent or 4 in 10 mobile phone users in the UK have never recycled whilst 1 in 4 or 24 percent have never thought about receiving cash for recycling their old mobile phone and are unaware that taking an old handset into an Orange store the customer could get up to 252 quid.

11 percent or 1 in 10 of Britons say they hoard their old device for sentimental reasons even though having held onto them for years, and when it comes to age, almost a quarter, 23 percent of 18 to 24 year olds hang on to their old handset while only 7 percent or 1 in 10 aged 55 or over do the same.

The head of the Recycle & Reward scheme at Orange, Dan Thomas says, “I’m surprised that so many people have never recycled a mobile phone or even considered that they could get cash back for them. Recycling old handsets is good for the environment & good for consumers’ pockets – and we’ll reward any customer from any network that wants to recycle their mobile with cash.”

Apparently overall UK recycling figures have risen year on year but people tend to focus more on recycling household gear such as drink packaging and food, book, paperwork that doesn’t offer any reward, while the average payout for a mobile phone is £45 and the likes of a 16GB iPhone 3GS can get up to £148.