Do you have an old mobile phone sitting in a drawer at home?
You are not the only one.
Many Australians have an old mobile lying around, with 40 per cent having two, three or even four old phones at home, says mobile phone expert Rose Read.
The problem is those phones contain valuable finite materials, such as heavy metals, that could cause environmental damage if they are chucked into the bin and find their way to landfill.
Which would be even more of a shame, considering they can be easily recycled.
"They're made from non-renewable resources, so there's a finite supply of them," Ms Read said.
"And we really need to look at how we can return them back into the supply chain to match our rate of consumption, rather than digging up more materials, which we may not have in the future anyway."
E-waste is a growing issue in Australia. Think of the thousands who purchased new iPhones on Friday. Each of those people now have an old phone they need to get rid of.
How to do it? Well, there are several options, according to Ms Read, who is manager for recycling at the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association.
You can earn a bit of money by heading to cash-for-phone websites, which will quote you a price for your old phone and then take it off your hands.
Or you can drop off your handset, battery, charger and accessories at your local Mobile Muster collection point. A not-for-profit recycling program (which Ms Read manages) that has been running since 1998, there are collection points at Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile, Officeworks and Battery World stores (and even some council libraries).
If you are not keen on going in-store, you can visit your local post office, ask for a recycling satchel and pop it in the post for free.
Once you send it in, the phone is physically dismantled and recycled to the highest environmental standards, with over 90 per cent of the materials recovered.
Ms Read also recommended wiping your data from the phone before doing anything with it. Instructions can be found online, but if in doubt, head to your nearest mobile phone store, such as Telstra or Optus.
"If you're going to get one new phone, you should at least try and recycle, or resell or reuse or pass on one of your old phones," Ms Read said.
Visit www.mobilemuster.com.au for more information.
