When you get a new phone, don’t just chuck your poor old one in a drawer. Do some good with it instead…
Go green and recycle your old phone
Did you know that roughly 80% of the materials used in your phone are recyclable? And that Currys safely recycles over 65,000 tonnes of waste electronics every year? Yep, that’s right - you can recycle your old phone responsibly with us.
Bring your old phone along next time you visit one of our stores, and we can recycle it for you. We’ve got dedicated recycling bins in every Currys store.
If you do recycle with us, how much good will you actually be doing for the environment? Well, recycling stops harmful chemicals and metals from polluting soil and water. Plus, it keeps junk away from animal habitats. We’re proud to be the number 1 tech recycler in the whole of the UK, so you can trust us to get rid of your tech properly. Here’s what happens to your tech when you recycle it with us.
Trade it in
If you want cash in on your old mobile, you can trade it in at Currys. You can do it online or in-store, and we’ll give you a gift card to spend on new tech. Ker-ching!
Sell your phone online
Here’s the best option if you’re after some cold hard cash - sell it. Head to Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Gumtree or Fonebank - or take it to a gadget store and see what they’ll offer.
Before you send your phone to its new home, make sure you remove all your data and perform a factory reset, so it’s like new when it powers up.
Donate to charity
Mobile phones are a welcome sight in charity shops. The buyer gets to grab a great handset at a bargain price, and the money goes to a good cause. It’s a win-win.
We mentioned Fonebank before, and it does some nice charity work with Water Aid. When you sell your phone, you can choose to donate a percentage (or the full value) of it straight to them. They’re an international charity, determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone. Since 1981, they’ve directly reached 28 million people with clean water. It’s a great cause.
Turn it into another gadget
Your old phone can still do some good, if you think smart.
Why not turn it into a security camera for your home? Just place it somewhere you want to keep an eye on, and download Alfred. Then sign in to the same account on your old phone and another device, and you’ve got your own security guard. The app features motion detection, two-way audio and even low-light filtering, so it’s just as handy at night as it is in daylight.
If you’ve got a toddler or baby, you might want to turn your old phone into a baby monitor. Just place it near their cot or bed (plugged in if its battery isn’t great) and you’re halfway there. You can then video call the old phone over Wi-Fi, or go for a specialist app. If it’s an Android phone, give BabyCam a try. All you need is another device on the same Wi-Fi network as your old phone, and you’re good to go.
Need any help?
Got anything around unused and unloved? Check out our guide to getting rid of unwanted tech. Looking for a new phone? If you’d like to talk to an expert, pop in-store or have a video chat using ShopLive.
