According to the Recycle Now website, less than half of us here in the UK recycle our electronic gadgets. There are plenty of people who regularly upgrade their mobile phone, and either keep the old ones kicking around or throw them away - despite the fact that they're easy to recycle and can earn money for you or your favourite charity. Here are some of the websites to check out when you have an old mobile phone to recycle.
- The Eden Project are collecting unwanted mobile phones to raise money for their new education programme - they call it their "Mobiles for Mud" programme. You can send your mobiles directly to Eden, of if you're visiting then you can trade it in for a discount on your tickets.
- Tesco will exchange empty ink cartridges and mobile phones for green Clubcard points. You might be able to find a collection point in store, or you can check the website for where to send your phone. A working phone will get you 300 Clubcard points; a broken on is worth 50 points.
- The Woodland Trust protect our native woodland heritage. You can help them plant more trees by sending them your mobile phone to be recycled.
- Recycling Appeal is one of the companies that collect mobile phones for recycling and donate money to charity. You can even start your own appeal, and use your recycled mobile phones to raise money for your own cause.
- With Fones4Schools, schools and youth organizations collect phones for recycling and in return receive cash and prizes for each phone collected.
- Foneclub also help schools and organizations to raise money from mobiles, by providing free recycling envelopes and paying £2.50 for each handset collected - regardless of its age or condition.
- Oxfam make it very easy to recycle your phones. You can simply drop them off at your local Oxfam shop, order recycling bags or simply post your phone off to a Freepost address. And if you're a company or organization donating more than 20 phones (or 30 printer cartridges) then you can arrange a free courier collection.
- Oxfam can also benefit if you choose to sell your phone via Fonebank. You'll get cash and Oxfam will get 10% of the value of your phone.
- SHP for charity are another company that recycles mobile phones and partners with charities to donate money. They have an impressive list of charity partners, so you're bound to find a cause there that you'd like to support. You can even support Kew Gardens conservation work via SHP for charity.
- Another way to use your mobile phone to plant trees is to send it to TalkGreener. They'll pay you for your old phones, transferring the money directly into your bank account, and also plant a tree for you with Trees for Cities.
- Re:cycle your mobile are geared up to helping charities, companies, councils and schools organize mobile phone collections. They can supply bags, posters, online reporting and marketing expertise - and they pay for the mobile phones and printer cartridges you collect. They have a Zero Landfill policy and work with partners to turn handsets that are unsuitable for resale into other things - including Frisbees and traffic cones!
- There are lots of websites that will pay for your mobile phone. Envirophone will exchange your old mobile phone for cash - up to £180, depending on the make and model of your phone. They've got a handy system for working out how much your phone is worth, too.
- At mopay you can choose to donate the value of your mobile phone to charity, convert it into M&S vouchers, or just take the cash.
- Mazuma Mobile are phone reuse specialists. They'll pay you for your phone and then try to find it a new home.
- Get up to £150 for your phone, paid directly into your bank account, with Mobile2Cash
- Mobile phone buyer will send you a Freepost recycling envelope for your phone and pay you for it. They can also organize a pick-up for big collections.
- The service provided by Mobile Phone Xchange is very similar, so it may be worth shopping around to find out who will pay the most for your handset.
- And Banana Green will pay you for your old iPods as well as your mobile phones - providing that they're still in working condition.
- If you're an eBay addict then of course you can try and sell your phone with them.
- Or if all of those sounds like too much effort, you could always try and give your old phone away to someone in your community, via your local Freecycle group.
