How to Dispose of Old Mobile Phones Securely in UK?

Today’s smartphones are essentially necessary for daily life. You might not be aware, though, that the ongoing cycle of phone purchases and upgrades is harmful to our environment. For its construction, precious metals and other high-end materials are mined from the earth, and when you discard your phone, those metals as well as other materials, will sit in a dumpster for a very long time.

In this blog, we are going to see a few ways to dispose of your old mobile phones securely in the UK. Read the full article to know what methods are there and which one is suitable for you.

Why should you just throw your phone away?

Here are the reasons:

• E-waste is a term used to describe electronic devices that are no longer wanted or needed, such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets. When these devices are thrown away, they can end up in landfills where they can release toxic chemicals into the soil and water. These chemicals can then seep into the food chain, potentially harming animals and humans.
• Smartphones do contain materials that are both valuable and scarce, such as gold, silver, and copper. When phones are thrown away, these materials are lost forever. This can lead to a shortage of these materials in the future, which can have negative consequences for industries that rely on them.
• Another issue why you can’t just throw it away is the energy consumption required to manufacture and dispose of smartphones. The production of smartphones requires a significant amount of energy, and the process can generate greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. When smartphones are thrown away, they often end up in landfills, where they continue to consume energy as they decompose.

How to dispose of old mobile phones securely in UK?

Repurpose your old phones

The longevity of modern smartphones is one of their main benefits. Companies now design their phones to accommodate lengthier upgrade cycles, which can last three or four years. Making ensuring your phone lasts as long as possible is the simplest approach to making it more sustainable.

Your old phone likely still has a lot of life left in it if you have only used it for a few years. You could use it as a webcam for any PC/laptop, a high-end iPod for listening to music, a portrait frame for your desk, or even a VR headset with the appropriate technology. You might even keep it as a backup phone in case something were to happen to yours.

Repairing your phone is another option to increase its lifespan. A trip to your neighbourhood repair shop can fix simple issues like cracked screens, faulty ports, or poor battery life.

Selling your old phone for the money

You can sell your old smartphones for some cash. There are a lot of online websites available that you can rely on sell your smartphones. It can be beneficial to sell your used iPhone, used Samsung, or other used phone if it’s in decent condition. Numerous businesses will give you an estimate of how much your phone is worth and then pay you when you send it in by cheque, direct deposit or PayPal. You might be able to make a sizable profit depending on the make and model of your phone.

Here are some websites for you:

• Decluttr
• Sell My Mobile Phone
• Sellphones.co.uk

Donating your old cell phone

There are many individuals in the world who cannot even afford a phone, even though you may have a junk drawer full of obsolete cell phones. Donate your old cell phone to organisations that collect such things to help out. Even some cell phone providers have dedicated initiatives to assist in collecting and donating cell phones to others.

Getting your phone ready for recycling

It’s crucial to prepare your phone before getting rid of it if it’s finally reached the end of its useful life and you don’t want to lose any data or, worse, have it land up in the wrong hands.

To ensure you don’t lose any data, back up your phone’s contents to a cloud storage service (pictures, contacts, passwords, apps), and then conduct a factory reset to clear everything off. Most phones allow you to back up your device using either your Google account or Apple ID. As an alternative, you may sync your old phone’s data with your new one as you set it up, doing away with the need for a backup. Additionally, you should remove your SIM card and any installed memory cards.

Recycle it

Even the UK government advised people to get rid of their electronic waste in environmentally friendly ways. So, recycling is the best option if you really care about the environment. This may take some of your precious time, but if you don’t want to waste any of your time, you can hire a rubbish removal service. The service will take care of your e-waste.

You can hire Express Waste Removals to get rid of mobile securely in the UK. We are expertise in waste recycling, especially e-waste. So, you don’t have to worry about how we are going to dispose of it.