Herald Sun
By: Greg Thom
People can convert their unwanted mobile phones into cash and help eliminate a recycling nightmare.
In an Australian first, Mazuma Mobile plans to spend more than $5 million snapping up many of the estimated 16 million unwanted and unloved old phones gathering dust in drawers across the nation.
The company is offering $1.60 for non-working models and up to $650 for a top-flight iPhone.
Established in Britain four years ago by former Melburnian Charlo Carabott, the company has already paid more than $118 million for pre-loved phones in that country.
Rather than ending up in landfill, many of these have been passed on to Indian, African and Chinese consumers.
Mazuma Mobile Australia managing director Aid Rawlins said many Australians were unwilling to part with their old phones, clinging to the misconception they might need them one day.
"Of course, you rarely need to re-use the phone and after a while they start to stack up," he said.
Mr Rawlins said Australia's remarkable mobile phone penetration rate - 24 million mobile subscribers out of a population of 22 million - meant there were huge opportunities.
Customers can get a quote after looking up their mobile model number online before sending in the unwanted handset by mail.
"We are looking at paying out about $5 million between now and Christmas," Mr Rawlins said.
More than nine million new handsets arrive in Australia every year, feeding a seemingly insatiable public demand.
The increasing frequency with which owners upgrade to new models has meant disposing of old mobile phones has emerged as a significant environmental issue.
The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association said if the millions of handsets stashed around the country were recycled, the material recovered could produce 3.2 million aluminium cans, 160,000 plastic fence posts and save the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking 5180 cars off the road.
Mr Rawlins said Mazuma complemented the work of existing mobile phone recycling programs.
"Recycling of phones is important, but the working life of a mobile phone can be 10 to 12 years," he said. "We extend their usable life beyond the typical 24-month contract."