Waste charities recycles old phones in junction with international E-Waste Day
Charities are making people more aware of the ways in which old phones can be recycle to reclaim the precious metals contained inside them. Normally it has not been so clear how this can be done.
Donating your phone to a recycling charity will enable them to sell them on to recycling companies, generating cash for much needed worthy causes, and help save the environment, too.
This awareness campaign is being rolled out in conjunction with International E-Waste Day, and waste charities are being the driving force behind it.
So exactly how big is the waste problem of mobile phones?
The International Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment(WEEE) forum says that it is thought that over 5.3 billion unused, unwanted and broken phones are lying around in places at home.
A proximately 30% of mobile phones in Europe are no longer used, sone stored away in houses with the hope that some day they might be put to good use again.
WEEE data suggested that the majority of these old phones end up in household bins, eventually finding their way into incinerators or landfill.
Old phones have precious metals inside
However, if recycled correctly it is possible to reclaim the precious metals that they contain inside, such as gold, silver, lithium and palladium. Pascal Leroy, director general of the WEEE forum said:
“People tend not to realise that all these seemingly insignificant items have a lot of value, and together at a global level represent massive volumes,”
According to data released by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, it is suggested that due to the growth in energy storage and electric vehicles, the wold will need to mine twenty times more lithium than was minded last year before 2050.
So what exactly us the easiest way to recycle old phones?
You can locate tour nearest phone recycling organisation by looking in the Recycle Now website, which is run by waste charity WRAP. Your local council may also have such recycling facilities often provided for free for small quantities.
This may be as part of your normal recycling collection, or may be dealt with separately by putting them in a special bag. See your local council website, or give them a call for more information.
There are also special websites you can find which accept unwanted working phones for cash, and you can also buy refurbished and recycled fully working phones using them, too.
In actual fact any item that uses batteries, has a plug, needs to be charged or has a picture of a crossed out wheelie bin can be recycled. This includes, but is not limited to: TVs, Mobile Phones, smoke alarms, hairdryers, cameras and electric toothbrushes, and a myriad of other household electronics.
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Source: restore technology, itpro
