Mobile Muster busts data retaining myth about phone recycling

So far more than eight million Aussies have trusted MobileMuster to recycle their old phones.

The free national recycling scheme is carbon-neutral, with more than 95 per cent of the materials used in mobiles being recovered.

It's estimated that close to 26 million phones are stored across the country, with almost five million being unusable.

So what's the problem?

According to research carried out for the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association in March and April this year, a significant number of people who hold onto their old phones do so because of data concerns. These include lack of confidence in transferring or saving data from the old phone or not knowing how to delete personal information.

And fair enough.

However, MobileMuster chief Spyro Kalos said mobile phone materials - glass, aluminium, precious metals and plastic - are processed separately through shredding, crushing, heating and smelting.

"It is during this time that any remaining data left on a mobile is completely destroyed, which means no personal information can be recovered," he said.

If you want to find out how to wipe your device of personal data before you drop it off, which the program recommends, MobileMuster provides step-by-step instructions HERE

There are also resources to guide you through backing up, deleting or transferring data such as contacts and pictures from your old phone to a new phone in a few simple steps.

Then you can pass it on, sell it, or recycle it without concern.

MobileMuster has operated for 24 years. It is voluntarily funded by all major mobile phone manufacturers and network carriers.

You can drop off your old mobiles for recycling at your local Optus, Telstra, Vodafone and Officeworks store or search for your nearest drop-off point HERE

There are also mailing options on the website.

The IPSOS research for the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association revealed:

THE average time we keep a mobile phone has increased to 2.9 (from 2.5 years in 2020);

ONE in three people have recycled a mobile phone in the past;

WHEN getting a new mobile, the intention to recycle the old one is high (50 per cent) but the top three reasons for not recycling are: keeping it as a back-up or spare phone; haven't got around to it yet; and there's data stored on it I don't want to lose.