Nokia returns to MobileMuster for recycling the old and the new

Now that one of the oldest mobile makers has returned to Australia to release new phones, it’s ensuring it gives customers a way to make their old phones do something worthwhile.

Australia has an addiction to mobile phones, and while that’s not a bad thing, what we’re doing with many of them — what we do with the excess — isn’t necessarily a positive thing.

Because of the rate at which we update, devices can be passed down to friends and family, but if they don’t, they often lie in drawers, gathering dust and wasting resources that can be used for other things, including that of electronics, the same sort you can replace the older phone with.

In fact, back in June, research by Australia’s mobile recycling program MobileMuster discovered that not only were there millions of phones sitting wasted, but that only 31 percent of Australians had ever recycled a handset.

But phone parts can have a use beyond that of a screen replacement, with a good 96 percent of materials inside a phone being recyclable for use in other things.

Getting Australians to make the transition from phones doing nothing to phones being recycled isn’t always an easy one, and for nearly 20 years, MobileMuster has been teaming up with smartphone makers to help get the word out, not just by handling the recycling, but by including the means to make it easy for smartphone buyers to get stuck into sending their old phones.

And now another is returning to the fold, because with Nokia returning to Australia, Nokia has rejoined.

As we bring the new range of Nokia Android smartphones — including the latest Nokia 8, into the Australian market — we are proud to join the industry-funded program and offer our customers a sustainable recycling service,” said Mark Trundle, Country Manager for HMD Global in Australia, the company who currently owns and produces phones for the Nokia brand.

“Being part of this government accredited initiative gives us great confidence that our smartphones, batteries and accessories, once they have finished their useful life, will be recycled to the highest environmental standards,” he said.

The news means that not only is Nokia is doing its part and joining the growing list of mobile makers and telcos aiming to help the environment by supporting and funding the MobileMuster program, it is also providing folks with an easy way to rid old phones and let them do something else in life. Don’t worry about the data, either, because everything is destroyed; this is about materials, plain and simple.

Supported by the likes of Samsung, HTC, Oppo, Huawei, Microsoft, ZTE, Alcatel, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile, and now Nokia, it’s fairly widely accepted, even if there are some notable names missing from the support list.

For those manufacturers that do support the program, you can usually expect to find a post-ready satchel inside a new smartphone box to help you send any old phones off for the destruction and recycling of that device. Otherwise, you’ll find drop-off points across the country from one of thousands currently available.