Where did your old mobile end up?

Once your shiny, new mobile phone is in your hand and all your data has been transferred, it’s easy to forget about your old model.

If you can’t get any money for it via popular resale websites, it may end its days at the back of a drawer. The other option is to recycle it but watch out for what that may actually mean.

The UK is a world leader in environmental initiatives, but we can't keep up with our phones. According to a recent poll by Vodafone and YouGov, over 4 million people in the country have confessed to throwing away their old phone rather than trading or recycling it!

With millions of electronic devices discarded every year, many end up in landfill in developing countries in Africa and Asia, where unprotected workers, many of them children, search the piles of abandoned devices to extract precious materials, such as gold and silver. Yes, it’s recycling of a sort, but not when there are toxic substances and children in the mix. These toxins also risk polluting the air, rivers, and land on which these electronic parts are ultimately buried or burned.

When the problem is so huge and growing larger, it’s hard to see how anything can make an impact. We can start with disposing of our old devices properly. For example, while you may no longer want your old phone, someone else might be grateful for it – a friend or a family member. Community outreach programmes and charities might also be glad of your device. It’s not just phones either – laptops, PCs and tablets could all have a life beyond your need of it.

If you end up with no-one wanting your old electronics, check online for a certified e-waste recycler near you. That way you can be sure your old device doesn’t add to the piles of electronic waste doing such harm in Africa and Asia.

At Hex, we are passionate Right to Repair campaigners , and we also harvest as much as possible from electronic devices at the end of their useful life. What is left, gets segregated and pass on to specific certified recyclers. If you need to dispose of your old devices responsibly, pop into our Hex Tollcross store.