Managed by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA), MobileMuster is ramping up its presence in the mobile phone reuse/recycling and refurbishment market. While it has seen an increase in collection of mobile phones, there is still a long way to go, according to its marketing and public relation manager, Joel Murray.
In 2022/23 the association collected 96 tonnes via its MobileMuster initiative, while for 2023/24 that has gone up to 109 tonnes. Murray said that while it is a good start, there are still millions of broken phones sitting in homes and businesses around the country.
The association is aware that there is a lot of work to do, and has initiated a lot of engagement with the community, with plans to do much more in the near future.
“We’ve done a lot of work, and we are working hard to increase awareness and change behaviours through marketing campaigns,” he said. “We’re getting better traction and we’ve also increased efficiency on the back end, focussing on working with more business partners for larger collections, rather than the consumer just dropping one phone off at a time.”
He said that it’s those efficiencies that are leading to larger gains, as the numbers indicate. A recent IPSOS survey indicated the number of broken phones in homes around Australia appear to be going down. In the past year they have gone from 13.8 million down to 13.3 million – a decrease of 500,000.
From an environmental perspective, refurbishment or reuse are the best outcomes for a second-hand phone, but if these options are no longer viable, recycling is the only way to go. And while the status quo might suggest the importance of the rare earth and other metals being reused, Murray said there is more value in the aluminium, plastic and glass because those materials make up the greatest volume of ingredients when it comes to the construction of a phone.
“There is a bit of a misconception that the gold is what recyclers are after in phones,” he said. “People don’t realise that the cost to post a phone back or send it to a recycling facility costs more than the amount of gold that’s in a phone. It’s the aluminium, plastic, the glass that’s valuable, and that’s the stuff that can be reassembled over and over. There’s also cobalt, nickel, iron, lithium, that kind of thing, but only in small quantities.”
Murray also says there are more altruistic reason for making sure mobile phones are disposed of correctly. He said the more materials that are recycled, “the less we need to dig up habitats of various animals and dig into the Earth in order to get those materials to make new mobile phones”.
MobileMuster has worked hard to get the message across. Murray said that current statistics show that one in three people have claimed to have recycled a phone, with one in two intending to do the same. It is converting that other two thirds that is the tricky issue. And it’s not like the organisation hasn’t offered a myriad of options for people to recycle their mobile handsets. Vodafone, Optus and Telstra stores – and their partners – have drop off points. Australia Post has also come to the party whereby you can post your old phone back to MobileMuster at no cost to
the consumer.
“The hardest part is the motivation for people to go to their drawer or shed or wherever, and actually pick it up and put it in a bag,” he said. “Some people think ‘there’s no tangible outcome for me,’ but they should do it because it’s the right thing for the environment.”
MobileMuster has also learned that they key to scale is with other businesses, with a view to work with more organisations and find opportunities that benefit both parties. Whether that be working with existing waste management organisations, or otherwise.
Companies are always changing providers, updating phones, and making sure they have the most up-to-date communication features. This means there is a lot of churn in that space and therefore plenty of phones that need to be refurbished or recycled.
“If you own a business and have a backlog of outdated, unused devices floating around, it’s absolutely free to pack them up in a box and send them to us,” said Murray. “You just jump on our website and all that information is there. We can also provide a certificate to show how your business is improving its sustainability measures through mobile phone recycling.”
One aspect that worries a lot of people – across the spectrum – is what happens to their stored data. Murray said he can assure the public and businesses that MobileMuster does not access phone data.
“Once it goes into a MobileMuster Box and is picked up, it’s never turned on,” he said. “It’s never accessed. It’s literally dismantled and chucked into a shredder, and there’s no way to access that data once it’s been processed. Your data is safe through the process. And if people do want to be extra safe, we have instructions on how to wipe it off before you drop it off.”
MobileMuster also partners with charities such as the Salvation Army, DV Safe Phone, and several zoos. It gives a rebate to these organisations for their recycling efforts.
In the case of zoos, the monies go to initiatives that help protect habitats of animals that are affected by mining of materials that go into making mobile phones.
Murray also said the organisation is looking at ways to incentivise consumers to return the phones, to keep up with trade-in services.
“Those trading and resale services typically will refurbish the phone and then resell it, and they will give consumers some cash back,” he said. “When it reaches a point where it no longer has value, that’s when you send it to MobileMuster for recycling.”
Murray also said that at the end of the day the MobileMuster service is easy to use and it’s free. Users or businesses don’t have to pay to ship to anyone and they don’t have to sign up to anything.
“Send them our way and it’s all sorted,” he said. “Get in touch with us, and we’ll discuss your needs and what we can do.”