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Mobile Phones

Mobile Phones

There is no need for old mobile phones to contribute to landfill or gather dust at home. Mobile phones contain chemicals which can harm the environment if disposed of in council bins. There are a number of organisations in Australia now who recycle mobile phones and batteries.

Mobile Muster is probably the best known mobile phone collection program. They work with Australia Post, local councils and mobile phone retailers to provide a free and socially responsible method of mobile phone disposal.

There are also a number of different charitable organisations who earn money from collecting old mobile phones. YouCan is one of them. They help Australian youth with cancer. By posting them your old mobile phone they can raise money and make a difference. You can find them and others here.

Ensure that the battery is drained before posting in or dropping off your mobile phone. Some recycling services will also ask for you to remove the battery when posting in your mobile phone, to ensure that the mobile does not turn on while in transit. 

Delete all data on the phone before your drop off or mail in your mobile. 
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Science Notes
Over 90% of mobile phone materials can be recovered and reused.

When first received, a mobile is dismantled into its parts – battery, casing, motherboard and accessories. The batteries are then sent out to battery recyclers, dependent upon whether they are Lithium-ion or Nickel based.  The casings are shredded and used by plastics manufacturers.

Motherboards are broken back down into their components and the metals (gold, silver, copper and lead) extracted for reuse. 

Related Tip
The majority of mobile phone recyclers or e waste services will also recycle your old mobile phone chargers and accessories.