Fess up, you’ve probably got an old phone in a drawer or box in your home that you’re keeping in case your current phone breaks. It’s unlikely that you’ll end up using this phone, but it is likely it’s sitting there gathering dust, degrading in quality and simply going unused.
Why not recycle it? I mean, it gets a piece of unloved tech removed from your home, and recycling it the proper way is much better than simply throwing it in the garbage.
With the Christmas season passed and with a lot of people likely to have new phones, we thought today would be good to remind you of how you can recycle your old phone in Australia.
Before you recycle your old phone, please, please, PLEASE make sure you’ve wiped the data and that you’ve retrieved all of the necessary information from your old phone (like photos and videos). Unless these are saved to a cloud, you won’t be able to access these again once your phone is gone.
How to recycle your old phone
Every so often, you might happen upon a drop box or a phone recycling bin in a building. This is probably the easiest way to recycle your phone in Australia: just drop your old phone in the bin and be on your way. Mobile Muster has a handy map on its website of where you can find mobile phone drop-off points, should you want to send your former phone on its way.
Mobile Muster is funded by government and industry bodies like Telstra and Optus, and is quite easily the biggest player in the phone recycling space, considering its partnerships with businesses and councils across Australia. You’ll likely see their name come up when you look into who is handling your phone recycling, but there are a handful of other phone recycling companies.
Recycling your phone using a satchel
Mobile Muster also lets you mail your old phone in using a postage-paid phone recycling satchel, which you can pick up from an Australia Post or JB Hi-Fi.
Alternatively, you can pick one of these satchels up through the Mobile Muster website or you can use your own packaging, provided you complete and attach this Australia Post form. Such satchels are also often included in the box when you purchase a new phone.
Why should I recycle my old phone?
Well, firstly, it’s not like you’re using it. Sure, it can be a rainy day phone that you’re saving for if your new phone suddenly drops dead, but let’s be honest, is this likely?
Let’s also talk about the good that comes from recycling. The resources that go into making phones are finite, made up of glass, aluminium, gold, silver, palladium, platinum, copper, steel, graphene, cobalt, lithium and plastic. Recycling these materials makes sure that they’re being put to use without the need for new materials to be introduced to the supply chain. Most tech uses materials like this, so it’s important that we’re making the most of it before we start to run out.
While some of these are far more common than others (such as glass and aluminium) many of these aren’t as common (like cobalt and lithium). Demand for some of these less abundant resources are set to increase over the next few years, especially with electric cars on the rise.
Moreover, it’s taking up space in your home, even if it’s a small thing. It could be nice to just declutter the house and get rid of tech you’re not using.
Get rid of that dang unused phone.