Recycle Phones For Money

It is estimated that there are currently fifty million mobile phone subscribers in the UK, the average mobile phone user will upgrade once every eighteen months, twenty million phones are upgraded every eighteen months in the UK alone. Only 20% of mobiles in the UK are ever re-used or recycled which means that close to one hundred million phones are stored in people’s cupboards, drawers and attics collecting dust. If these phones were all piled up on top of each other they would weigh six times heavier than the London Eye!

Mobile phones contain lots of dangerous substances which should be disposed of in a safe way including cadmium, lead, flame retardants and beryllium. Although cadmium is now being phased out of newer batteries in mobile phones, if mixed with water the cadmium used in one mobile battery would be enough to contaminate over six hundred thousand litres of water. Flame retardants are used in circuit boards and mobile plastic cases; these have been associated with liver damage and cancer. Lead in mobiles is used to solder various components to the circuit board; lead can cause serious damage to children’s brains and could affect the immune and central nervous system. Finally beryllium which is used in making springs and other contacts within a mobile phone can cause lung cancer.

There are numerous ways in which mobile phones can be recycled safely and efficiently. When you upgrade your mobile, your network will send you an envelope in which you can return your handset via a freepost address, once received they will either re-use or recycle it for you.

Another way would be to donate your old mobile to charity, the address to send your phone to can either be found on the charities website, alternatively you can simply hand it in at your nearest charity shop.

If you not feeling charitable and want to receive some cash for recycling / re-using your old phone then you can either sell it on your favourite online auction site. If you haven’t got the time to sell it on auction sites or can’t find the box and all the accessories, then a quick search on the Internet will reveal mobile phone recycling sites that will pay you up to £165 per phone you send in. To recycle your mobile on one of these sites it’s just a case of searching for your model of phone, once found a price will be given, if you are happy with this price proceed through the checkout and you will be sent a freepost envelope in which you can return your phone in. Some sites will give you the address straight away to speed up the process. On receipt of your phone you will be sent a cheque through the post or payment will be sent through your bank.

There are three great things about recycling your phone through one of these sites. The first is that they only require the handset and battery and not all the accessories or instruction booklets, the second is that payment is sent within 7 days and usually a lot quicker so no waiting for lengthy auctions to end and the third is even if your mobile is damaged you can still sell it and earn a little extra cash.

Which ever recycling method you decide on they are all certainly better than all your old mobiles just sitting around in bottoms of drawers and cupboards or at worst being disposed of incorrectly and causing pollution or serious illness.

Visit Mobile Phone Money and find out how to recycle mobile phones quickly and efficiently and earn up to £165 per handset. More information on recycle mobile can be found here.

Leave a Reply