Recycle your mobile
12 million or more mobile phones sit unused in cupboards or drawers in Australia. Do you have any? If you do, why not recycle them?
© Peter Guess
Are you one of the 85% of Australians who own a mobile phone? If you are, your phone is one of about 17.5 million phones currently in use, and that number grows every year. But what do you do with your phone when it breaks or you're ready to upgrade?
You might pass your old phone on to friends, your brother or sister, or even your parents. You might hold on to it and keep it in a cupboard or drawer, just in case it might come in handy "one day" (it's estimated that 12 million phones are kept this way). And what if you want to get rid of the phone all together?
Not the bin!
Mobile phones contain metal (for the battery, circuit board etc.), and some of these are potentially toxic. Cadmium, lead, nickel, mercury, manganese, lithium, zinc, arsenic, antimony, beryllium, and copper are just some of the metals that might be in a phone. These metals can be dangerous to the environment, and us, if not properly disposed of. And of course most phone cases are made of plastic which are generally not biodegradable - not very good for the environment if they end up at the tip.
What this means is that it's not a good idea to simply chuck your old phone in the bin. But did you know you can recycle your phone?
About 90% of your mobile phone can be recycled and used to create new products. A survey of phone owners found that about 4% of mobile phone owners currently recycle their phone. While 4% may not sound like a lot - and it would certainly be great if more people did it! - this will stop around 55 tonnes of mobile phone material from ending up at the garbage dump each year.
How can I recycle my phone?
Pass it on
If you are thinking of upgrading your phone, think about who might get use out of your existing phone and pass it on to them. This is great because you are extending the life of the phone - making the most of the money you spent on the phone, and better use of the materials and energy (electricity, transport, etc.) that went into making the phone. Make sure you let them know that they can recycle their phone if it breaks, or once they no longer have a use for it.
Recycle your phone
MobileMuster is the official recycling program of the mobile phone industry in Australia. It was established voluntarily by the industry because of its desire to maintain high environmental standards and its commitment to product stewardship. The program aims to:
- Take back mobile phones, batteries and accessories at the end of their useful life
- Recover as much of the materials in these phones for reuse
- and Prevent mobile phones, batteries and accessories ending up in landfill.
Over 90% of the plastics and metals in mobile phones, batteries and accessories can be recovered and used as raw materials to make new products such as stainless steel, plastic fence posts and jewellery. There are currently around 14 - 16 million handsets in storage in peoples draws at home, waiting to be recycled! By recycling these phones we are reducing our demand on scarce natural resources, avoiding future greenhouse gases emissions and preventing potentially harmful materials ending up in the environment.
Although everything in a mobile phone is solid-state (i.e. there are no moving parts or liquids that can be released in normal use) they do contain small amounts of potentially hazardous substances (e.g. cadmium, lead, brominated fire retardants) which, if not handled correctly at the end of their lives, can harm the environment.
This is primarily of concern in landfills where hazardous substances could be leach into the environment. Similarly, incineration of the plastics in mobile phones may also be of concern where the process is not managed in compliance with strict environmental guidelines because it may result in the release of harmful dioxins and furans.
The MobileMuster program is run on a not for profit basis where all costs are borne by mobile handset manufacturers and network service providers. No mobile components are refurbished or resold. All materials are recycled to the highest environmental standards.
It is a free service, where people can either drop off their mobiles, including batteries, chargers and accessories at one of MobileMuster 3,500 publicly listed drop off points across the country or post them in using either a free recycling satchel available from Australia Post outlets or download a reply paid mailing label from www.mobilemuster.com.au
For more information please visit our website www.mobilemuster.com.au or call 1300 730 070.
Spread the word
Next time you're talking to a friend, family member or workmate about their new phone, make sure you ask them what they're going to do with their old phone and let them know that they can recycle it.
If you know your friends, family or workmates have a bunch of old phones lying around, organise to collect them up and take them to a recycling program. If your work has an intranet or message board, why not post a notice there? That way you're spreading the word and getting a bunch of people to recycle at the same time.
Related Links
- MobileMuster
- Find out how and where you can recycle your phone.
- Hazardous mobile waste not reaching recyclers
- ZDNet article that notes the MobileMuster initiative "has only caught a fraction of the estimated 5.5 million mobiles retired since it started in 1999."
- Bury old phones in the back garden
- CNet article about MobileMuster and prototype phone designs that have environmentally friendly features. Also includes a great photo gallery of mobile phone recycling in the UK.
