Recycling mobile phones

mhoc

Following on from a discussion on mobile phone recycling I emailed Tesco customer service and got this reply.

"If you wish to obtain the recycle bag for the mobile, I would advise you to call our Customer Service helpline on 0800 505555 and they will be able to send one right away.

Alternatively, you can also write to them with your request on the following address.

Tesco Customer Service Centre
Baird Avenue
Dryburgh Industrial Estate
Dundee
DD1 9NF"

So I rang the free phone number and two days later a recycle bag arrived.

You put your old or redundant phone in the bag, minus your sim card. Then you tear off the strip at the top, complete your details and put it inside the bag and post it off freepost.

(I am using a sticky label over the tear off bit because its that nasty shiny plastic)

Here is the moral dilemma. You can either tick the box and for each phone received they will donate £5 to charity (less 60p postage) - there is a choice of 3. Or they will donate £2.50 to charity and give you 250 Tesco clubcard points if you include your Tesco clubcard number.

5 phones per person will be accepted. There is no mention about wether the phone has to work or not, wether you need to include the battery or what condition it has to be in - I suppose a flattened one off the road will not do

Even if you don't have an old phone now its still worth keeping an envelope or two in readiness in your freebies folder.

Theses bags might also be available in various forms in Tesco itself on the mobile phone aisle, bright green very hard to miss.

Mary

Is this in the right place?

paws_3

i also noticed a few of these bags in my local asda last week. Must be a new thing they are all doing- good idea : )

terrierlady

dont forget lots of charity shops have a scheme to recycle m/phones and all you need to do is drop the old phone off with them at your local shop.

Fatboy_NSS

A decent idea if you've got a really old phone that's on it's last legs, but most phones would fetch over £5 on ebay/in the small ads. You may as well just sell it yourself and donate the profits to charity, rather than letting Tesco get a cut of the money.

skintscotsman

i sent off a (damaged) sony ericsson p800 to t-mobile on their recycling scheme and got £15 for it. doubt i would have got anything near that on ebay.

loopyloo_4

I manage the projects for trade ins for the company who recycle all the phones for all the major networks and most supermarkets (not tesco). If you are after cash, you are better off recycling them through O2 or T Mobile as these pay the most (up to £30). You can get the freepost bags from the stores or through their customer services. If you want to donate cash to charity from your phone you can do so through many charities, eg. Children in Need. I dont want to advertise my company but if you want to know more about who we work with then pm me and i will send you the web address

competitionscafe

You can also donate your old mobile phone to an orphan support group in Africa:

http://www.pledgebank.com/phones2orphans

"........More details
I'm a supporter of the Firelight Foundation (https://www.firelightfoundation.org), which supports programmes in Africa for orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Everyone knows about the African AIDS pandemic. Not many know that there are millions of kids in Africa whose parents have died but who get almost no support.

Firelight finances dozens of local community organizations in different African countries. I'm planning to visit some of their programmes before the end of this year, and the most valuable thing I can carry in my luggage is usable second-hand GSM mobile phones.

This is because a pay-as-you-go cellular phone is an incredibly useful tool for a local charity -- not least because it improves communication with supporters overseas.

If you're willing to donate your old phone, here's what would make your gift really helpful:

-Include a charger with the right plug (I can give you more details)
-Include the manual (or a link to a place on the web where it can be downloaded)
-Make sure the 'network lock' is removed (you can often do this free by downloading software off the web) so it can be used on an African network.

And if you donate a phone and I find a suitable community group that can make use of it, I'll let you know who they are so you can stay in contact with them.

Thank you....."

http://www.pledgebank.com/phones2orphans

NoelC

Tried calling that Tesco number just now, and the call centre operative (who spoke very poor English) was totally flummoxed as to what this scheme was. After about 15 minutes of being put on hold, I was told to approach the customer services desk of my local store.

Grrrr........