A new start-up is offering cash for people’s unwanted phones as a means of encouraging mobile handset recycling across the country.
The first mobile phone recycling company to open in Australia, Mazuma Mobile proposes to spend over $5 million to recover the estimated 16 million unused phones scattered around the nation. The company is offering phone users $1.60 for phones that are no longer in working order all the way up to $650 for a fully loaded, working iPhone.
The firm, established in Britain four years ago, has already paid out over $118 million in cash for pre-loved mobiles in the UK. Founded by Melbournian Charlo Carabott, the mobile phone recycling company aims to divert as many phones as possible from ending up in landfill.
Managing director for Mazuma Mobile Australia Aid Rawlins said that many Australians do not wish to part with their old mobiles because they believe, falsely, that they may use them again one day. He added that naturally these mobiles were never used and begins to pile up as people hold onto them. Mr Rawlins added that Australia’s network incorporates 24 million mobile subscribers despite the country only having 22 million residents, meaning the market for recycling is huge.
Customers can receive a quote for their mobile from the firm by submitting the model number online prior to sending in the handset by mail. Mr Rawlins said the firm would seek to payout $5 million by Christmas. Over nine million new mobile phones are brought into Australia each year to feed the insatiable demand. The increasing frequency of upgrades has meant that more and more mobiles are being discarded quicker causing a significant environmental issue to emerge.
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