7 In 10 Consumers Have Never Investigated What’s Inside Their Smartphone

Do you know how heavy your phone truly is? A 200-gram smartphone requires more than 266 kilograms of raw materials extraction. At a global scale, more than 319 million tonnes of upstream materials are extracted annually to manufacture the world’s smartphones alone, the equivalent of more than 900 Empire State buildings worth of material each year.

That extraction is compounded by a typical 2 to 2.5-year upgrade cycle. Professionally refurbished tech marketplace Back Market is calling for a legally mandated 10 years device standard – covering durability, repairability and long-term software support as a key effective lever to reduce the extraction demand driving these costs. Keeping a smartphone in productive use for 10 years instead of 2.5 years can avoid approximately 757 kilograms of raw material extraction per device.

Research⁴ suggests that once people understand what’s behind their technology, it changes how they think about what they buy, and how long they expect it to last.

To build that understanding at scale, Back Market has launched Mine My Phone a public interest platform revealing the environmental, human and geopolitical costs behind modern devices think Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles, but built towards a single outcome: public and regulatory support for a 10-year device standard.

The Hidden Costs Of Devices

Access to critical minerals is increasingly shaping international relations, trade policy and territorial security disputes, as nations compete to secure supply chains for the technologies of the future.

Every smartphone device carries an extraction footprint that is rarely visible to the people who buy it:

• A 200-gram smartphone requires more than 266 kilograms of raw material extraction
• Globally, more than 319 million tonnes of upstream materials are extracted annually to manufacture smartphones
• Up to 80% of a smartphone’s lifetime carbon footprint occurs before it’s ever switched on
• Children as young as six have been found in artisanal mines sourcing critical minerals to the tech supply chain
• 4 billion people are at risk for diseases due to toxic metal pollution, with 23 million people alone exposed to cancer-causing levels of toxic waste

The Awareness Gap

The Smartphone Extraction Gap Report, a global consumer research commissioned by Back Market and conducted by independent research agency Opinium, surveyed 6,000 consumers across France, UK, Germany, USA, Spain and Japan to understand what people know and don’t know about what goes into their devices

Key Findings:

• More than half of respondents cannot name a single raw material inside their smartphone
• Only one in four feel confident they know what goes into a device
• Seven in ten have never investigated where the materials in their devices come from
• 38% reported shock and 26% worry when learning that more than 200 suppliers are involved in a smartphone’s journey from extraction to finished product
• 66% of consumers globally support legislation requiring devices to remain durable, repairable and software-supported for at least 10 years
• Seven in ten say evidence of child labour in a supply chain would impact their purchasing decisions
• When informed that a single refurbished phone avoids approximately 243 kilograms of raw material extraction compared to manufacturing new, 49%⁴ said they would be more likely to buy refurbished

Mine My Phone: A Public Reference Empowering Citizens

Mine My Phone is a public-interest educational platform created in collaboration with an international panel of experts, scientists, independent researchers and contributors. Bringing together data, expert commentary and in-depth reporting on the extraction economy behind consumer technology, it reveals the environmental, human and geopolitical impacts of the critical mineral extraction required to make our devices. The platform is designed as a public reference point to help people understand what lies behind their tech, make informed choices and act as empowered citizens.

“Citizens cannot make informed choices or push for regulation if they lack access to information about what happens before a device reaches their hands,” Thibaud Hug de Larauze, Executive Chairman. “This is fundamentally a transparency problem. We hope that Mine My Phone becomes a reference citizens use to understand what’s behind their device, and a starting point for public and regulatory debate.”

Longevity As The Lever: A 10-Year Device Standard

Achieving a 10-year device standard requires coordinated action across three groups, not any single company:

• Manufacturers must design durable devices to last, with 10-year software support and accessible, replaceable parts
• Policymakers must enforce Right to Repair and prohibit design practices that artificially shorten devices’ lifespans
• Circular economy actors must expand trusted, verified refurbishment at scale

“If extraction is the cost of technology, longevity is the lever,” said Marie Castelli, Head of Sustainability & Public Affairs at Back Market. “No single company can create the 10-year device. It requires manufacturers to design differently, policymakers to legislate differently, and consumers to think differently about the technology they own.”

Regulatory Momentum Across Markets

Back Market is supporting device longevity legislation across its core markets:

• EU: calling for repair and reuse to be prioritised in future circular economy law
• UK: securing parliamentary debate on smartphone upgrade cycles
• USA: supporting state-level right to repair that reframes device control legislation requiring manufacturers to provide repair documentation, parts, tools and updates available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms

Building The Coalition

No single company can mandate a 10-year device standard alone. Back Market is convening a coalition of manufacturers, policymakers and circular economy actors to advance their ambition, with founding partners to be announced ahead of Slow Tech Summit in Paris on 15 October, where the coalition takes its first public shape.

Slow Tech Summit – Paris, 15 October, 2026

Back Market will convene a full day of panels, workshops, and an exhibition revealing the extraction journey of new devices and the case for longevity, building the coalition for the 10-year device standard.