There’s gold in old phones

The numbers are compelling. Ninety-two percent of all material from mobile phones, batteries and accessories processed through the Mobile Muster program are recycled.

“This works out to be about 117 tonnes worth of material,” said Rose Read, recycling manager with Mobile Muster, an initiative of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association of Australia (AMTA), in association with most of the telcos and handset manufacturers in operating in Australia.

In effect, what this means is precious metals such as gold, along with rare earth materials, and otherwise toxic materials, such as the cadmium used in old-style nickel cadmium batteries, are recovered and reused.

The same goes for the plastics in the cases of the devices and accessories, said Read. Plastics Australia Composite Materials takes the plastics and recycles them into items such as sign posts. One Steel takes steel and other ferrous materials, while more exotic materials are sent overseas to places such as Singapore and Thailand. There they are extracted  - subject to stringent rules – recycled and re-used.

Mobile Muster is funded by a 42 cent levy on every handset sold in Australia. Handset manufacturers pay 30c, while carriers pay 12c. The system is opt-in, and so not all manufacturers take part. Apple, for example, does not take part, preferring to use its own recycling scheme.

“We still get iPhones handed in,” said Read. “We take whatever consumers put into the donation containers.”

The scheme originated with Telstra and Motorola in 1998. At the time, the companies were concerned about e-waste from handsets, and in particular the cadmium used in batteries. Cadmium, a metal, is toxic to humans and is an environmental pollutant.

The scheme was subsequently relaunched in 2005, and since then more manufacturers and network providers have come on board. “We’ve seen significant growth in the number of handsets being recycled,” said Read. “And that means they are being recycled, and these materials are reclaimed and diverted from landfill.”

After costs, mobile muster makes about 50 cents per kilo from the recycled material, however the vast majority of funding comes from members of the scheme.