What’s the best way to recycle your old tech?

Max Feeman-Mills breaks down what to do when your device has seen better days

The consumerist society that we live in has some big upsides but also some major downsides.

For example, it can be a challenge to both upgrade your tech as regularly as you increasingly need to – and also do the right thing for the environment.

After all, it doesn’t take much digging to find out about the various precious minerals and materials that are used to create much of the tech we use everyday, which makes the prospect of sending an old phone or laptop to the landfill a bit depressing.

E-waste, as it’s called, is only going to become a bigger problem over time, but being able to chip in by trying to do things a better way could be key to pushing back on the issue. There are plenty of ways to do so, not least by trying to make your devices last longer, which generally requires ignoring offers from tech giants to upgrade to their newest and most powerful upgrades.

However, if you have some tech that has reached the end of its life and you want to dispose of it as best as you can, there are some easy steps you can take to make sure you give it the best shot at being reused or fully recycled…

Try to resell it first

Something that you might be completely finished with could still be a really solid option for someone else – whether it’s a laptop or a phone. Reselling sites like eBay and Amazon Marketplace are full of people offering up old tech for cut-price rates, including some that are broken but have functioning parts to nab.

This is a great option, and can ensure that something gets another few years of use instead of just heading to a scrapheap – and you might make some money on the side, too, which is a lovely bonus.

Donate your tech

Of course, another way to give someone else the chance to use your old tech is to avoid the profit-making side of things and just donate them to charity. It’s still the case that some charity shops and organisations don’t accept tech, for various reasons, but a long list of them do: British Red Cross, Sue Ryder, Emmaus, British Heart Foundation, Marie Curie and others should all oblige.

This is a great way to make a difference without much effort required on your part.

Recycle with your local authority

Recycling electronics isn’t as simple as leaving them out on the kerbside with your household waste, in the UK at least – most of the time, you’ll need to do a little more digging. This is now really easy thanks to Recycle Your Electricals, a fantastic website that takes all the hard work out of the process.

You can input what sort of tech you’re trying to get rid of, and based on your responses it’ll give you options for recycling, donating or even repairing them, all based on your location.

This might end up pointing you toward a local authority waste management site, or it could mean dropping them off at a charity shop, but either way you’ll be able to quickly and easily find out how to give your tech another shot.

Contact the manufacturer

The biggest electronics makers in the world are simply enormous companies, meaning some of them have salvage and recycling schemes all of their own.

For example, Apple has a scheme where you can bring in pretty much any old Apple device into a store and drop it off for them to dispose of and recycle – with the chance of getting some trade-in value if it’s not too old, too. You can book this process online, and it’s well worth checking with whatever company made your tech to see if there’s an equivalent system you could use.

Repair it

Sometimes when tech breaks it can be tempting to throw your hands up in the air and give up – we’re not all IT experts, after all. However, you might find that a repair job is easier than you’d think, and could give your tech another lease on life.

From giving a phone a new battery and discovering it lasts as long as it used to, to replacing the display on a laptop and being able to use it as normal, this can change things and save you from making an expensive replacement purchase, so it’s well worth remembering as an option.

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