Australians have helped MobileMuster collect over 5,000 kilograms of old unused mobiles and accessories for its ‘Old Phones, More Trees’ campaign over the past three weeks. However, a further 25,000 kilograms are needed to reach the campaign’s aim of recycling 30,000 kilograms of mobiles and accessories to plant 30,000 trees in partnership with Landcare Australia.

“There are less than two weeks to go until World Environment Day on 5 June. With approximately 16 million unused old mobiles lying in homes throughout Australia there are plenty of handsets that can be recycled to make a real difference to the planet,” says Rose Read, manager recycling, MobileMuster.

For every kilogram of mobile phones and accessories sent to MobileMuster for recycling before World Environment Day, a tree will be planted in one of four Landcare Australia projects.

By recycling an old mobile with MobileMuster, Australians will be helping to protect some of the nation’s most endangered species and contributing towards the rehabilitation of two of Australia’s agricultural heartlands – the Murray River and West Australia’s central-eastern wheatbelt.

Mobile phones are not biodegradable, but are 90 per cent recyclable. According to the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, there are an estimated 16 million mobile phones lying unused or broken in drawers across Australia that could be recycled.

“We know that seven out of 10 Australians have at least one unused mobile that could be recycled and we are setting the bar high for this year’s collection,” says Ms Read.

The four Landcare Australia projects are all considered to be ecological hotspots because they support populations of rare native fish, birds and vegetation. Endangered species to benefit from the projects are North Queensland’s Southern Cassowary, the Kuranda Tree Frog and the Murray River’s Superb Parrot.

“Everyone in Australia has a chance to have a positive impact on the habitats of the Southern Cassowary, Kuranda Tree Frog and Superb Parrot and to contribute towards the health of agricultural heartlands,” says Heather Campbell, CEO of Landcare Australia.

The mobile phones and accessories recycled through the ‘Old Phones, More Trees’ program will also achieve significant environmental outcomes.

“Recycling 30,000 kilograms of mobile phones will not only see 30,000 trees planted, it will also see 47 tonnes of carbon emissions avoided by reusing recovered materials,” says Ms Read.

The material recovered from the recycled mobiles can be used to make stainless steel items, plastic fence posts, jewellery and even new batteries.

“Keeping one mobile phone as a spare for emergencies makes sense, but if you have more than one lying around the house it’s time to put it to work for the environment to achieve three great outcomes,” says Ms Read.

All mobile phones collected by MobileMuster during this period will count towards supplying trees for the Myola Basin (Far North Queensland), Lower Lakes and Barmah-Millewa Forest (The Murray River) and the Wallatin and O’Brien catchments (West Australia).

Recycling an old mobile phone is free and easy, simply:

• Drop it off at your mobile phone retailer / local collection point - to find out where go to www.mobilemuster.com.au or call 1300 730 070
  
   
• Post it in by picking up a free MobileMuster recycling satchel from Australia Post
  
   
• Post it in by printing off a reply paid mailing label from www.mobilemuster.com.au