- Most people in the UK now own a mobile phone and they can be recycled.
- Donate old mobile phones to friends or family.
- Many manufacturers take back old mobile phones for recycling.
- Some companies have set up mobile phone recycling schemes.
Carbon Neutral
The Carbon Neutral company will recycle your mobile phone if you send it to:
Greener Solutions
(Future Forests Offer)
Freepost LONI7592
PO Box 32343
London
SW17 9ZZ
See www.carbonneutral.com for further details.
Turn On Your Mobile
The company 'Turn On Your Mobile' also have a recycling scheme where you can exchange your mobile phones for cash. See www.recyclemymobile.co.uk for full details.
You can search for your phones make and model on the site and once you have found it, you can send a mail for a quote via a form on the phone giving your name and contact details and as much information about the phone/s as possible (ie: general condition and if it is full working condition or if it has any faults). You can alternatively call the freephone number or visit their service centre.(Wimbledon - London)
You will then be emailed back with your quote and details of what you need to do if you would like to send your phone off. The site states it will pay within 72 hours and offers several incentives including:
- Freepost service if your handset is only worth a low value
- Special delivery charges refunded if the handset you send is high value
- Courier service for 10 phones or more - good for businesses
- Refund cheque can be made out to a charity of your choice if you prefer
Envirofone
Another site offering a phone recycling service where you can make money on your old phone is envirofone.com. The service works in a similar way, but this site is slightly better as you can search for your phone by make and model and see pictures of the phones to ensure you have the correct one. This helps if you are unsure of the make and model.
Once you have found your phone you will see the amount of epoints it is worth. You can either collect epoints or redeeem them right away. They can be converted to cash which will be sent out to you in the form of a cheque within 20 days of receipt of your phone, or you can use them to spend in Argos.
The points system is good if you have several phones of low value and want to trade a few in over a period of time until there is a decent amount to redeem as cash or argos credit. They have a good reminder feature too where they will email you in 1-12 months depending on when your phone is next up for upgrading.
Envirofone incentives include:
- Photos of phones so easy to locate your model
- Value can be seem straight away on the site
- They pay postage costs
- Charity donation by envirofone with every phone
Recycling Appeal
The Recycling Appeal collects mobile phones as well as PDAs and printer cartridges for reuse and recycling. They raise funds for charity whilst helping the environment at the same time. The Recycling Appeal has generated over £2 million for partner organisations since 1999.
They make recycling your old phones and printer cartridges easy by offering free collection envelopes. You simply need to pop your items into a freepost envelope and put it in the post. You can call up or fill out an online form to get an envelope sent out to you. If you have large quantities of items to send, the Recycling Appeal will arrange for a courier to come and collect them from you free of charge.
Recycling Appeal incentives include:
- Freepost envelopes or free collection for multiple items
- Choose your appeal from a number of charities
- Recycle phones, PDAs and printer cartridges
