Recycle mobile phones

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How to recycle mobile phones

Quick-start guide

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ASK

Could you refurbish your phone or pass it on to someone who needs it? If your mobile phone is beyond use, remove your SIM card and any memory cards. Then back up and wipe your personal data.

BAG IT

Find a spare bag to store your old electricals and electronics – and pop the phone in it. This is a great habit that will make your trips to your local recycling point that much easier.

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CHECK

Find your nearest recycling point by popping your postcode into our recycling locator.

Recycling locator

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Where to recycle mobile phones

Retailers will take your old phone

Upgrading? The shop where you’re buying should recycle your old phone for you free of charge. They will make sure your hand set is recycled properly. Some online retailers will send you a freepost envelope or collect your phone from you. Follow their advice on preparing your device to hand it over safely.

Household waste and recycling centres

Many local authority waste and recycling sites have a special bin where you deposit phones for recycling. Check our locator to find your nearest reuse and recycling point for mobile phones.

Recycling locator

What to do with mobile phones instead of recycling

Check out these options.

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Troubleshoot your mobile phone

Check your user guide – you might find that replacing the battery, updating software or freeing up memory gets you extra time with your phone.

Close up of a light skinned person holding a smart phone in their left hand and a mini screwdriver in their right hand which is connected to the bottom of the phone.

Repair your mobile phone

Faulty screens, dusty connections or loose components can be fixed – and you could save yourself money. See our page on repairing electricals.

Repair electronics

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Donate your mobile phone

Many charities welcome mobile phones, which they can re-sell or give to people who need them. See our page on donating electricals to charity.

Donate electricals

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Sell your mobile phone

There’s a huge market in second-hand mobile phones. We have a whole list of them on our selling electricals page. You could be quids in.

Compare and Recycle

Keep your data safe when recycling mobile phones and other smart devices

Your mobile phone holds contacts, images, bank details, passwords, messages – all kinds of personal data for your eyes only. So when passing on your phone for recycling or reuse, make sure you back up your data before completely erasing it from your device. See our detailed guide to keeping your data safe, with guidance from We Fight Fraud and the Government’s National Cyber Security Centre, so that you can sell, donate or recycle Apple and Android devices with peace of mind.

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