Australians hanging on to broken mobile phones

According to new IPSOS research commissioned by MobileMuster, Australians are holding onto five million unusable mobiles — a figure that has increased by almost a million in the last year. And that’s just the broken ones — overall, there are over 23 million old mobiles lying around in Australian homes that could otherwise be recycled.

The research found that while over three-quarters (77%) of Australians are aware of mobile recycling, just under a third (31%) have ever recycled an old mobile. MobileMuster is now calling on all Australians to make a positive move and recycle those old, broken and unwanted mobiles.

“It’s time to let go,” said Spyro Kalos, MobileMuster’s recycling manager. “If your mobile is broken and can’t be turned on, then it’s essentially just a piece of junk.

“While the phone may be worthless to you now, it’s not to the environment,” Kalos said. “By recycling your old mobile, you’ll be sending much-needed materials back into the supply chain to make new products. And this reduces the need to pull materials out of the ground. Recycling mobile phones is a positive environmental step that we can all take.”

Phones should never be put in general waste bins, as this can have damaging effects on the environment. Some mobile phones contain materials that, when put into landfill, can contaminate the earth, the water and, in turn, the health of people.

In contrast, around 98% of the materials found in mobile phones can be recovered, including precious metals, plastics and non-renewable resources. Recycling 50,000 handsets can remove the need to mine over 330 tonnes of precious metal ore.

The research also found that millennials are the least likely to recycle their old mobiles, and are most likely to resell them. Kalos encourages this practice, as it extends the life of the phone. “But if it’s at the end of its life, recycle it — what are you waiting for?” he said.

To recycle your phone, drop the handset and its accessories off at one of over 3000 MobileMuster drop-off points, including all the major retailers including Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Virgin Mobile stores, or download a mailing label from the MobileMuster website.