Do more with your old phone: recycle, trade in or give back

Several options exist at no cost to you. Free post-back schemes from the major networks (EE, O2, Vodafone, Three) and charities such as Fonebak and Computer Aid send you a prepaid envelope. You can also drop off at any EE, Vodafone or O2 store, or use the Recycle Your Electricals map at recyclenow.com to find a local drop point. Independent buy-back sites including Envirofone, musicMagpie and Mazuma will collect and pay you if the handset works. Full comparison in our mobile phone recycling guide.

For a working handset under three years old, paid trade-in almost always pays more than a free charity drop-off. A working iPhone 13, for example, fetches £150 to £250 via trade-in sites, whereas charity schemes pay nothing in cash. If the phone is broken, very old or low-value (below roughly £20), free recycling makes more sense: you avoid the hassle of a valuation and the device is still kept out of landfill. The charity benefit is the same either way.

Value depends on model, age, storage size and condition. As a rough guide: a recent flagship such as an iPhone 15 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S24 in good condition can fetch £300 to £600; a mid-range handset from two to three years ago typically returns £50 to £150; a four-plus year old budget phone usually achieves under £30. Get quotes from at least two or three sites before committing, as prices vary by 10 to 20% between platforms. Unlock your phone first if it is network-locked, as unlocked handsets always attract higher offers.

Under UK WEEE regulations, zero collected mobile phones may go to landfill. Certified recyclers sort incoming handsets into three streams: working units are refurbished and resold (in the UK or exported); partially working units are repaired or stripped for parts; non-working units are shredded to recover gold, silver, copper, cobalt and rare earth metals. Major UK recyclers must hold an Environment Agency waste carrier licence and publish processing reports annually.

For most users, yes. A factory reset overwrites the user partition and removes your accounts, photos, messages and app data. On iPhone, the Erase All Content and Settings option also removes the Activation Lock, which is essential before any transfer. On Android, enable encryption first (most modern phones encrypt by default), then run the factory reset. If you want extra certainty, some trade-in sites offer a certificated data-destruction receipt as part of the process.

Yes, significantly. Manufacturing a new smartphone accounts for roughly 70 to 80% of its total lifetime carbon footprint, mostly from mining, processing and assembly. Buying a certified refurbished handset sidesteps that manufacturing phase entirely. Independent lifecycle analyses estimate a refurbished device saves 50 to 80 kg of CO2 versus an equivalent new model. The saving is greatest on flagship handsets where production emissions are highest. Our refurbished phones guide covers grades, warranties and trusted sellers.

Yes. Chargers, cables and earphones are covered by the same WEEE regulations as handsets and must not go in household waste. Most Currys, John Lewis and Argos stores have WEEE collection bins near the entrance for small electricals. Some network stores accept accessories alongside phone drop-ins. The Recycle Your Electricals locator (recyclenow.com) also lists nearby drop-off points for cables and chargers, including Royal Mail post boxes in some areas.