Phone and Gadget Recycling

Imagine that you have just bought a new phone or a new laptop, but you still have your old one and it is in good working condition.
You can’t just throw it in the bin, since it is bad for the environment. But what can you do? You could sell it to someone privately, but you could also recycle your gadget, which would benefit you and the environment. How can you do it? You should continue reading to find out.

How does phone recycling work?

There are many ways how you can recycle your phone. If you think that the phone would not be worth a lot and is not worth passing it on, you can just dispose it at household waste and recycling centres. The right container for phones is the one with marking “small electricals”. If you don’t want to throw the device out, but also don’t want any money for it, you can give it to a charity or pass on the phone online for free. You can give it away in online sites such as Freecycle and Freegle.

If you think that your phone is still worth a pretty penny, you can sell it to places which recycle electronic devices. Usually you would have to send the phone through post. Then experts would value and test the phone. After that, the company will send you the money. Sometimes the value can be determined online by putting in the phone model and the network which would then generate a quote. If your phone is damaged, you will have to answer some additional questions which would then amend the quote. Some companies offer same day payments and would send a delivery box where you can send your phone to them for free.

Laptop and Other Gadget Recycling

If you want to recycle another gadget - a laptop, tablet or a MacBook, it works very similarly as it does for phone. You can recycle them at recycle points but you can also sell them privately or recycle them online. Places like Cash In Your Gadgets offer to sell your gadget, while Compare and Recycle give you the best place where you can sell your gadget (where you can get the most money for your gadget). You can also recycle your gadget at Music MagPie , a well known site for buying refurbished gadgets. You do have to fill in a form to report on the state of your gadget and any damages to it and send it(usually the company sends you a box to put the phone in), but that is pretty much it! Nice and simple!

If you don't own a Samsung or Apple gadget, it might be a bit harder to find a place where the seller would accept a Huawei tablet or a Sony Smartwatch. You can try at Music MagPie, as they offer to sell various brands or try to sell your device privately.

Best Apple phone and Gadget recycling deals

Apple iPhone X 64GB – you get £470 from GoodBuyTech

Apple iPhone XS 64GB you get £399 from We Buy Any Phone

Apple iPad Pro (2017) 10.5" Wi-Fi + 4G you get £259 from We Buy Tek

Apple iPhone 7 32GB – you get £138 from Phones2Pounds

MacBook Pro (2016) 13" you get £423 from Cash in Your Gadgets

How much will I get for my phone?

That depends on the phone model and the condition it is in. Also, the newer the phone is, the better. If your phone is slightly damaged, you can check the price of a fully working model. Then think of the extent of the damage and subtract it from the price of a fully working device. Moreover, the price depends on the seller, since different sellers might have different prices for the same phone. Therefore, it might be worth doing your research before deciding to recycle your device.

Best Samsung phone and gadget recycling deals

Samsung Galaxy S10 128GB– you get £320 from We Buy Any Phone

Samsung Galaxy S8 64GB – you get £162.70 from musicMagpie

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 10.5 Wi-Fi 64GB you get £200 from musicMagpie

Samsung Galaxy A5 – you get £128 from Giff Gaff

Which phone recycling company is the best?

There are many companies who recycle mobile phones.
We would suggest you to look at each of them and consider how easy is the process and ,of course, which seller will offer you the most money for your phone.

CeX or Game stores

If you’re walking down your local high street, you can pop in one of the CeX or Game stores and sell your mobile device there. In CeX and Game you can either get cash for it or receive CeX/Game vouchers, which will usually be worth more than you would get in cash. But if you’re not into gaming and don’t see yourself spending couple of hundreds on games or other electronic devices, you can recycle your phone elsewhere.

Network Providers

You can recycle your phone with mobile network providers like EE, Three, Giff Gaff or o2. They accept devices from all networks and guarantee the best price. If you are able to find a better price somewhere else, o2 and Three promise to match it. Also, o2 and Three offer same day payment while EE sends the payment within three days and Giff Gaff offers payment one day after phone’s arrival. All of these providers offer free phone return – they will send a package where you can send your phone to them, all expenses covered.

Comparison Sites

Besides the network providers, there are many other online websites who buy phones for recycling. The easiest way to find the best price for the phone you want to sell, is to use comparison sites. We found three phone recycling comparison sites, which are very easy to use. You just have to choose your phone’s model and the site will generate a list of websites and prices. Here is the list of comparison sites:

1) Sell My Mobile
2) Compare and Recycle
3) Compare My Mobile

You can also check pages like MusicMagpie, Mazuma, fonebank and envirofone to get a quote for your phone. Carphone Warehouse also offer trade-in services with the same day payment and option to put the cash forward for a new device.

Biggest phone manufacturers Apple and Samsung also offer trade-in services and they accept devices from most phone manufacturers.

Best other phone deals

Huawei P20 Pro – you get £166 from handtec

Google Pixel 3 64GB – you get £295 from handtec

Huawei Mate 20 Pro 128 GB – you get £220.20 from handtec

Why should I recycle my phone?

If you decide to recycle your phone, you will help the environment. A lot. According to global citizen, electronic waste is the fastest growing and most problematic waste stream in the world. Moreover, most of e-waste is not properly disposed – only 15% to 20% of e-waste is recycled. By recycling your device, you can help this number to improve. Recycling electronic devices also prevents air and water pollution and reduces greenhouse gas emissions

According to thoughtco for every million cell phones recycled we can recover 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver, 33 pounds of palladium and 35,274 pounds of copper. That is pretty impressive. Fun fact – recycled mobile phone gold will actually be used for 2020 Olympic medals. The Olympics will take place in Tokyo, and the city has already collected more than 80,000 phones to create 50,000 medals.