Give your old phone a new life...

Your mobile phone was always there for you when you needed it. It was your link to friends, family and work. So when it’s time to bid it farewell, of course you want to make sure that it gets a proper send off. Well, you can rest easy. Here’s the process used to give your old phone a new life in the world…

The recycling process, step-by-step.

1

Old phones arrive at the processing facility and are separated from any accessories, such as chargers, that were also included for recycling.

2

Batteries are removed from the phones for recycling, pretreated to avoid possible explosions during the process. Following the recycling process, the cobalt is recovered from the batteries.

3

The actual phone recycling begins in a shredder, which literally rips the phone apart. Plastic shreds are separated from the circuit boards and recycled. The shredded circuit boards are melted down to recover the precious metals.

At the same time, the chargers are prepared for recycling, then sent out for copper recovery.

4

A new life for your old phone!

  • Precious metals, such as gold, silver, and palladium are extracted from circuit boards, LCD screens, and camera modules, then sold for reuse.
  • Copper is retrieved from battery chargers and used for wiring and other products.
  • The plastic casing may be processed into a number of products such as paintbrush handles, flower pots and plastic fencing.
  • The cobalt derived from batteries can be used in magnets, padlocks, and speakers.