Recycling your mobile phone – or indeed purchasing a recycled mobile – is becoming increasingly popular. It’s unsurprising. Mobile phones contain a range of materials including metals, plastics, and several valuable components – such as silver – which can be extracted and re-used. There are an increasing number of options for recycling and re-using old mobile phones. Indeed, you can choose to sell iPhone 11 or trade-in iPhone 11 with the possibilities that recycling offers.
It is important to ensure that your personal data is removed from your mobile phone before you pass it on or send it for recycling. Here’s what happens when you trade your phone in, and the process it’ll go through.
Determining the condition and value
The first thing you’ll need to do is to establish how useful your phone is. The condition matters: if it’s covered in cracks it’s likely to be much less valuable than a pristine model. At the same time, the model matters too. If you have a top of the range iPhone it’s going to command more value than an old flip phone regardless of the condition. By vaguely judging your mobile’s value you can then choose how to recycle it.
Donating it
Perhaps your phone isn’t worth a huge amount, but you’d still like to recycle it. In this situation you can donate it. Whether you choose to send it to a charity shop, put it in your local council’s ‘small electricals’ recycling, or send it to an online recycling website such as Freecycle, passing on your mobile is an ethical choice.
Trade-in
An economical choice – especially if your phone has value – is to trade it in and offset the cost of your new mobile. This can be done via selling it on an online recycling website, or even by selling it privately (albeit with more admin) on a website like eBay.
Reuse it yourself
Even if you upgrade to a new mobile, you can still utilise your old one if you’re not selling it. With the right apps they can work as a permanent GPS in the car, a security camera or even a baby monitor!
Ultimately, when you choose to get rid of your phone that doesn’t mean you should leave it to collect dust. Whether your trade it in or find it a new use, recycling is always the way forward.
“Creator. Troublemaker. Hardcore alcohol lover. Web evangelist. Extreme pop culture practitioner. Devoted zombie scholar. Avid introvert.”