Hi, my mobile phone wont charge anymore and I have had to replace it. Where is the best place to hand it in so it can be disposed of or recycled for parts? I want to do the environmently responsible thing.

mistletoe22 - 2020-10-28 09:18:00

most stores that sell phones will accept them to dispose of in new plymouth

mouse265 - 2020-10-28 09:29:00

I dropped off an old mobile phone a few months ago into the Vodafone store box and all you hear is a loud drop at the bottom.

ttaotua1 - 2020-10-28 09:35:00

Starship hospital used to accept them for recycling with the money going to them. Not sure who's collected them for that tho.

nice_lady - 2020-10-28 09:45:00

Drat Google says not anymore.

nice_lady - 2020-10-28 09:46:00

some of the council landfills may have IT electronic recycling section for free. Wellington does. in the past some mobile phone shops also collect them.

rayonline_tm - 2020-10-29 11:14:00

Thanks I have tried emailing vodafone - I will let you know how I get on:-)

mistletoe22 - 2020-10-29 11:26:00

I disposed of my phone by leaving it a rental car in Darwin...
worked for me...

m16d - 2020-10-29 18:20:00

around 99% of phones & tablets never get recycled.

bitsnpieces2020 - 2020-10-29 18:28:00

bitsnpieces2020 wrote:

around 99% of phones & tablets never get recycled.

57% of statistics are numbers plucked from thin air.

gyrogearloose - 2020-10-29 19:36:00

And all generalisations are inaccurate ????

nice_lady - 2020-10-29 20:03:00

https://www.vox.com/2017/11/8/16621512/where-does-my-smartph
one-iphone-8-x-go-recycling-afterlife-toxic-waste-environmen
t

bitsnpieces2020 - 2020-10-30 08:20:00

100% of ph's I get are either sold or scrapped depending on good/ busted or repairable.
None of them end up in the rubbish

mrfxit - 2020-10-30 11:34:00

nice_lady wrote:

And all generalisations are inaccurate ????

D'OH

mrfxit - 2020-10-30 11:35:00

bitsnpieces2020 wrote:

https://www.vox.com/2017/11/8/1662151
2/where-does-my-smartphone-iphone-8-x-go-recycling-afterlife
-toxic-waste-environment

I read that, and still didn't see your claimed statistic even considering it was only relating to iPhone 8X models.

gyrogearloose - 2020-10-30 18:52:00

m16d wrote:

I disposed of my phone by leaving it a rental car in Darwin...
worked for me...

LOL

sirrab - 2020-10-31 12:36:00

They should all be recycled then there would be less little black children getting killed mining the element used in the making of them.

The element can be taken from the old phone and used in a new phone.

Edited by muppet_slayer at 1:08 pm, Sat 31 Oct

muppet_slayer - 2020-10-31 13:06:00

muppet_slayer wrote:

The element can be taken from the old phone and used in a new phone.

For many things, yes. But it's not easy and indeed impossible for some and for others completely uneconomic. And of course the $$$ rules.

nice_lady - 2020-10-31 13:49:00

My latest bill from Vodaphone came with a pre-paid envelope to send your unwanted mobile phones to a crowd called RE:mobile
It was in aid of a trust / charity called The Sustainable Coastlines Charitable Trust
www.sustainablecoastlines.org
The envelope was addressed:
RE:MOBILE Mobile Phone Recycling Scheme
Private Bag 208006
Highbrook
Auckland 2161
FreePost 251294

the instruction are:
1) If the phone still works, disconnect it from the cloud and delete all data.
2) Remove and keep the SIM
3) leave battery in and switch phone off..

Maybe this can be of assistance ?

onl_148 - 2020-11-03 10:49:00

????

nice_lady - 2020-11-03 10:52:00

The member deleted this message.

nice_lady - 2020-11-03 10:52:00

Onl_148 That has been most helpful! And I have found a drop off centre where I live -so will hand it in.

mistletoe22 - 2020-11-03 16:37:00

Don't you have a rubbish bin? It all ends up in the same place.

tegretol - 2020-11-03 17:44:00

I never threw my old one out, it literally got lost over time and i havent seen it since, no idea where it is lol, but it is a good idea not to bin it, i never cared about this stuff until finding out about cadmium, being a smoker so i cut down on rice and chicken to compensate, planted some veggies and remembered where i lost some batteries, hopefully not cadmium ones, i think it makes your arteries harden permanently, you never know what ugly toxins some products might have, so good on you for doing the right thing.

gunna-1 - 2020-11-05 02:49:00

muppet_slayer wrote:

They should all be recycled then there would be less little black children getting killed mining the element used in the making of them.

The element can be taken from the old phone and used in a new phone.

I'm not understanding your logic. The "little black children" you describe (and I think 90% of the rare earths come from China, btw) know nothing about how much metal is recovered from recycling, and are desperate for the cash the buyer gives them. They'll continue to mine regardless of the price because what other product do they have to sell?

gyrogearloose - 2020-11-05 08:11:00

gyrogearloose wrote:

I'm not understanding your logic. The "little black children" you describe (and I think 90% of the rare earths come from China, btw) know nothing about how much metal is recovered from recycling, and are desperate for the cash the buyer gives them. They'll continue to mine regardless of the price because what other product do they have to sell?

Interesting point - the poor buggers have to eat.

nice_lady - 2020-11-05 08:28:00

gyrogearloose wrote:

I'm not understanding your logic. The "little black children" you describe (and I think 90% of the rare earths come from China, btw) know nothing about how much metal is recovered from recycling, and are desperate for the cash the buyer gives them. They'll continue to mine regardless of the price because what other product do they have to sell?

Cellphones and other electronics gives the elements a value though don't they! No value means it's not worth anything down the line where the little black children work and means they won't be desperate for it and won't get sick from it because it has no value.

Here educate yourself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcJ8me22NVs

and I stand by my original statement which was there would be less black children getting affected by the mining of the element if it was recycled from the old cellphones and electronics.

Edited by muppet_slayer at 4:34 pm, Thu 5 Nov

muppet_slayer - 2020-11-05 16:26:00

nice_lady wrote:

Interesting point - the poor buggers have to eat.

So I suppose you think the mongrels who grow and harvest and produce cocaine from the coca plant, who produce most of the worlds cocaine are just "poor buggers who have to eat" too?!

They could be earning an honest living but they don't because of the demand for the product they produce.

muppet_slayer - 2020-11-05 16:40:00

nice_lady wrote:

Interesting point - the poor buggers have to eat.

The narrator in the youtube video says some times their work doesn't guarantee food.

muppet_slayer wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcJ8me22NVs

1:31 - 1:32

it's sad just hearing how much they earn!!

Edited by muppet_slayer at 5:08 pm, Thu 5 Nov

muppet_slayer - 2020-11-05 17:01:00

We really DO live in paradise here.

nice_lady - 2020-11-05 18:06:00

great stuff

mistletoe22 - 2020-12-16 18:56:00

muppet_slayer wrote:

The element can be taken from the old phone and used in a new phone.

Now that's an interesting subject for an Economic lesson. Spend $30 extracting $1 worth of base metal.

To answer the OP - stick a screwdiver thru it to ensure that your data is near impossible to retrieve and biff it in the garbage.

tegretol - 2020-12-16 23:03:00

tegretol wrote:

Now that's an interesting subject for an Economic lesson. Spend $30 extracting $1 worth of base metal.

To answer the OP - stick a screwdiver thru it to ensure that your data is near impossible to retrieve and biff it in the garbage.

Noone said recycling was going to make money. There are moral and ethical reasons why it should be done and if cellphone prices go up because of it.....so be it!.

muppet_slayer - 2020-12-17 00:15:00

muppet_slayer wrote:

Noone said recycling was going to make money. There are moral and ethical reasons why it should be done and if cellphone prices go up because of it.....so be it!.

Basic refurbishing makes money on most things
Pure recycling (raw materiel's recovery, often doesn't)

mrfxit - 2020-12-17 10:35:00

I have a perfectly working cellphone in the car for emergencies. I forgot to pay the $20 annual fee in time, so it has stopped working. Oh well I suppose it's time to leave 2G!

trade4us2 - 2020-12-17 18:55:00

That won't stop the phone working physically.

Edited by nice_lady at 7:58 pm, Thu 17 Dec

nice_lady - 2020-12-17 19:58:00

trade4us2 wrote:

I have a perfectly working cellphone in the car for emergencies. I forgot to pay the $20 annual fee in time, so it has stopped working. Oh well I suppose it's time to leave 2G!

Pay your $20 and all will be well.!

hazelnut2 - 2020-12-17 20:41:00

gunna-1 wrote:

I never threw my old one out, it literally got lost over time and i havent seen it since, no idea where it is lol, but it is a good idea not to bin it, i never cared about this stuff until finding out about cadmium, being a smoker so i cut down on rice and chicken to compensate, planted some veggies and remembered where i lost some batteries, hopefully not cadmium ones, i think it makes your arteries harden permanently, you never know what ugly toxins some products might have, so good on you for doing the right thing.

I think the boys in blue may have picked it up from the dairy where you left it when you were loitering there. That will be how they know so much about you.

tegretol - 2020-12-17 21:35:00

Thanks for this thread. I have a dead phone to dispose of.

calista - 2020-12-17 22:23:00

hazelnut2 wrote:

Pay your $20 and all will be well.!

It says the sim card is now unregistered. This happened once before and I had to pay over $100 to get a new sim card etc. It's a stupid system that doesn't give any warning that the phone is about to die.

trade4us2 - 2020-12-17 22:44:00

muppet_slayer wrote:

They should all be recycled then there would be less little black children getting killed mining the element used in the making of them.

The element can be taken from the old phone and used in a new phone.

I think there is a programme where they send those little black kids old cellphones so they can get refurbished & then they can use them, as a smart phone can do a lot to improve the life of the impoverished.

marte - 2020-12-18 03:08:00

trade4us2 wrote:

It says the sim card is now unregistered. This happened once before and I had to pay over $100 to get a new sim card etc. It's a stupid system that doesn't give any warning that the phone is about to die.

$100? You been ripped.

tegretol - 2020-12-18 21:58:00

trade4us2 wrote:

It says the sim card is now unregistered. This happened once before and I had to pay over $100 to get a new sim card etc. It's a stupid system that doesn't give any warning that the phone is about to die.

You got ripped off severely. And neither the SIM card norbthe phone dies. Your connection expires because you didn't pay to retain it.

Edited by nice_lady at 10:24 pm, Fri 18 Dec

nice_lady - 2020-12-18 22:22:00

nice_lady wrote:

You got ripped off severely. And neither the SIM card norbthe phone dies. Your connection expires because you didn't pay to retain it.

I just take the advice people give me. It seems their advice is usually wrong.
It was quite funny that the shop where I bought it was unable to show me how to operate the phone. I hate it anyway. There's no alphabetic keyboard. The menu system is horrible. This is a phone that I may make one or two calls per year if the car breaks down, which it hasn't for about 5 years. I have to remember to pay the $20 some time in November, and I forgot this year.

trade4us2 - 2020-12-18 23:22:00

marte wrote:

I think there is a programme where they send those little black kids old cellphones so they can get refurbished & then they can use them, as a smart phone can do a lot to improve the life of the impoverished.

What? You mean they don't have to suffer in silence. I can just imagine a text message. "Hey bro, got any food or water?" That's not meant to be funny either!

muppet_slayer - 2020-12-19 10:35:00

marte wrote:

I think there is a programme where they send those little black kids old cellphones so they can get refurbished & then they can use them, as a smart phone can do a lot to improve the life of the impoverished.

Yeah and how ironic, those same phones are the reason little black children are being abused everyday!

muppet_slayer - 2020-12-19 10:49:00

muppet_slayer wrote:

Yeah and how ironic, those same phones are the reason little black children are being abused everyday!

Its a difficult subject. If you think about it - if the kids weren't digging out precious metals so that we can have cellphones and stuff what would they be otherwise doing ? Starving ?

Many of those countries people only eat because they work. Yep they get ripped off by multitudes of human vultures but if they didn't work - they don't eat. This world's a pretty F*cked up place and we are incredibly lucky to be HERE not somewhere else.

nice_lady - 2020-12-19 10:54:00

The western world could have atleast gone in there and mined the shit themselves and paid off the locals. That's a much better outcome, the westerners get their element and the locals get clothed, fed and get other essential items for life. No the westerner sits back as usual in these situations, and does nothing...grrrrr

muppet_slayer - 2020-12-19 10:56:00

nice_lady wrote:

Its a difficult subject. If you think about it - if the kids weren't digging out precious metals so that we can have cellphones and stuff what would they be otherwise doing ? Starving ?

Many of those countries people only eat because they work. Yep they get ripped off by multitudes of human vultures but if they didn't work - they don't eat. This world's a pretty F*cked up place and we are incredibly lucky to be HERE not somewhere else.

All so very true. I just feel bad for them you know.

muppet_slayer - 2020-12-19 10:58:00

muppet_slayer wrote:

The western world could have atleast gone in there and mined the shit themselves and paid off the locals

NOT going to happen if the profits would be lower. Westerners, and pretty much everyone else in the world look after themselves first. And if that means someone has to get a smaller cut so that the someone else higher up the food chain gets a bigger bank balance then that's what happens nearly always.

And you only have to do a very quick skim of the international news, (try Al Jazeera for instance), and you'll see theres MUCH worse going on all the time out there.

nice_lady - 2020-12-19 11:03:00