So, what’s the deal with recycling old mobile phones? Well, for start you’ll be helping the environment but you could also make a bit of cash at the same time! Here, we’ll try and briefly explain what happens to your old handset when you send it in to be recycled.

If your phone is fully operational, it can be used again, and it is likely you’ll be paid for sending your old mobile phone in. This is obviously the best form of recycling as nothing is going to waste. Some phones may need minor refurbishment to get them up to scratch but once they’re in a good resalable condition, they are sold on.

If the mobile phone is broken or damaged beyond economical repair, then it will need to be reprocessed. This entails sending the phone to a specialist company who will then remove any specific components from the phone that can be reused again, for example memory chips and metals, and the remainder will be smelted down to produce energy. Even recovering metals from broken phones is a hugely beneficial to the environment as this means less new ores have to be dug out of the earth.

At the end of the day, no part of your old mobile phone will end up in a landfill site, and that’s the main thing! Mobile phones do contain toxic substances which if left in landfill could potentially end up in the pollution of nearby water supplies and farming land – this is not a good thing. So, don’t ever bin your old mobile phone, recycle it. Plus, to make sure you get the best value for money, use a phone selling comparison site like ours!