Samsung has announced that it could potentially sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7s – following it recalling and stopping production of the devices toward the end of last year due to a risk of them catching fire.

After carrying out tests on more than 200,000 devices, it was found that the devices’ batteries were to blame for the heightened chance of explosion. This, along with the recall, has left the South Korean electronics giant with a lot of devices that need to be ‘processed in an environmentally-friendly manner’. One of these manners could be the refurbishment and sale of devices.

“Regarding the Galaxy Note 7 devices as refurbished phones or rental phones, applicability is dependent upon consultations with regulatory authorities and carriers as well as due consideration of local demand,” said Samsung in a statement. “The markets and release dates will be determined accordingly.”

In addition to the potential sale of devices, Samsung says it will reuse components that are salvageable and extract metals from the remaining components for recycling.

“For remaining Galaxy Note 7 devices, components such as semiconductors and camera modules shall be detached by companies specializing in such services and used for test sample production purposes,” said Samsung

“Finally, for left over component recycling, Samsung shall first extract precious metals, such as copper, nickel, gold and silver by utilizing eco-friendly companies specializing in such processes.”

In the meantime, Germany’s WinFuture has managed to get its hands on leaked images of the Samsung Galaxy S8.

The pictures, if real, seem to confirm many of the rumours that have been circulating regarding the upcoming devices.

The device is said to come in two models – one featuring a 5.8in display and one with a 6.2in display – and has a 12-megapixel rear camera, along with an 8-megapixel front camera. In addition, it will feature very rounded edges, be 8mm in thickness and lack a physical home button.