How can I help the League by Recycling?

By donating your old mobile phone to the Aussie Recycling Program, you will be helping the League raise funds for thousands of children and adults with cerebral palsy. For every old mobile phone donated through specially marked ARP satchels and bins, the Cerebral Palsy League of Queensland receives between $3.00 and $5.00.

Place your unwanted mobile phones in a collection bin or order a free postage satchel from the League. You can even keep a collection bin in your school or office, and encourage others to recycle!

Why recycle unwanted mobile phones?

Phones contain toxic metals including arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc. Not only are some metals in mobile phones toxic, they do not degrade in the environment and have been known to adversely affect health. By donating your old mobile phone you will be helping to limit the number of old phones that end up in landfill.

Some third world communities who have limited telecommunications resources can benefit from using second-hand or refurbished phones to communicate. By donating your old mobile phone to the Aussie Recycling Program, you will be helping to improve telecommunications resources in third world countries.

What happens to recycled mobile phones?

All phones received are recorded, sorted, tested, repaired if necessary and refurbished and then exported to developing countries. These phones help bridge the digital divide, improving the local economies and also the quality of life by providing affordable, first-time modern communications for many people. There is a tracking system in place that is able to track any phone throughout the entire process.

Phones that cannot be reused are dismantled for parts to help repair phones or make up a working phone. If the parts cannot be used, ARP recovers materials for use in manufacture of other products. Older phones that are seriously damaged are sent to material recycling, where materials can be recovered and put back into productive use. The remaining materials are sent for disposal in an environmentally friendly manner. No materials end up in landfill.