In today’s fast-paced world, technology evolves at a rapid rate, leaving many of us with a collection of outdated gadgets gathering dust in drawers. Among these are old mobile phones, often forgotten as we upgrade to newer models. But what if there was a way to give these neglected devices a new purpose.
Recycling your device helps reduce electronic waste, which is a significant environmental concern. By repurposing these phones, fewer harmful materials end up in landfills, contributing to a cleaner, greener future. So how can you recycle these unwanted phones?
Charity Donation
Recycling your old phone already makes a positive impact on the environment, why not help disadvantaged children in the process too? This is where Little Lives UK come in. Little Lives UK is dedicated to supporting children and families facing adversity across the United Kingdom. Through our Technology Programme we strive to improve the lives of vulnerable children by providing them with essential resources to support their education, home life and health using technology. Collecting and recycling old mobile phones is a simple act that can have a profound impact.
Donating your old mobile phone directly supports Little Lives UK’s mission to assist disadvantaged children. Where possible the devices you donate will be passed directly to children through schools, council and hospitals. When we cannot do this, the funds generated from recycling these devices goes directly back into our campaigns supporting vulnerable children.
The process of donating your old phone is straightforward. We offer free postage of small devices like mobile phones, so simply pack them up and send them our way. It’s a win-win situation—you clear out clutter while making a positive impact on someone’s life.
Imagine the ripple effect of such a simple act. Your old phone, which might have been destined for a landfill, now becomes a catalyst for change. It helps brighten the life of a child who needs it most, offering them hope and the promise of a better tomorrow.
Selling Old Phones
There are a few ways you can go about selling an old phone.
You could wipe it and upload it to an online marketplace; here potential buyers can send you offers for the device. Yu can choose how much you want to sell the device for, do some research on what it might be worth, but expect people to make lower offers looking for a bargain. Once someone had purchased it you can either post it to them or organise a collection from your home as this may be more convenient. This does however mean sharing your address online which some people may not be inclined to do.
Alternatively, you can take the phone to a high-street technology store, some of these will buy your device with the interest in reselling it in their shop. This is arguably the easier option when it comes to selling your old phone but remember these stores want to make a profit so might not pay you the phones full value.
Change the Devices’ Purpose
There are lots of ways you can repurpose a device so that it can still be used.
For example, add child settings and remove the sim card so that the children can use the phone for games and imaginative play. This way children get to learn how to use technology and they might even stop asking to play games on your phone so often. When children use devices for play however, things are likely to get broken so the devices value will diminish quickly.
You could make the phone a gaming, fitness app or reading device by only having relevant apps on it on it and leaving all the other stuff for your new phone. This way you can separate the device for one specific purpose based on your needs. The draw of modern mobiles however is that all these things can happen on one small device, so separating these elements across devices might defeat the point of having the new phone that does it all.
Take them to a Recycling Centre
Small devices like mobile phones often have a specific box or bin at recycling centres, here you can discard your old phones and then your local council will be responsible for the recycling of the devices dropped off. Check if your local centre offers this service and then simply drop you phones off at the next convenient opportunity. There are also out of home recycling points where you will be able to drop off phones to be recycled, these may be closer to home that the recycling centres.
Emergency Back-Up Phone
Some people choose to keep a device as an emergency back-up, this is good practice in theory but remember you only need one emergency plan B not a whole drawer full of them!
