Myth busters: the truth about e-waste

How do we separate fact from fiction when it comes to e-waste?

Join giffgaff as we set out to debunk some of the greatest e-waste myths on record.

Myth 1: It’s risky to recycle e-waste

One common fear is that data thieves could steal personal details such as passwords and bank numbers if we send our laptops or phones to be refurbished.

This is definitely a myth.

giffgaff is ‘all in’ on refurbished phones. Our team and partners know better than anyone the precautions needed to ensure your phone is wiped and sold in good, clean working order at the end of the process.

Of course, if you’re planning to sell your phone second-hand, it’s always best practice to wipe your details yourself. It’s super easy to do and 100% effective if done right.

Myth 2: e-waste recycling wastes more energy than it’s worth

Right, let’s think about this logically.

To build a modern smartphone you’ll need some pretty specific materials. Some of which are not only difficult to source, but are also toxic (think arsenic, platinum and mercury, to name a few).

Extracting these minerals uses a huge amount of energy, and that’s before you think about breaking them up and piecing the phone together.

We’ve actually done some research on this, and found that every time you choose a refurbished phone over a brand new model, you save the planet 50kg of carbon.

That’s the equivalent of an average school commute by car, or planting two trees.

Now that might not sound like a huge saving for one person. But think about the millions of new phones sold each year. And how many of those sold could be refurbished instead of new.

That’s a huge amount of CO2 saved. Now that’s helping the planet.

Myth 3: The recyclable material in electronic devices aren’t even that valuable

Hmm. If you believe this, it’s possible you don’t know what your phone is made of. If you did, you might think differently.

But seriously, your phone is packed full of really valuable materials like silver, gold, platinum and even diamond.

This means even if your old phone isn’t functioning, the materials inside it could still be valuable and help to give other phones a new lease of life.

That’s why we encourage you to trade in your old phone when you no longer need it. Even if it doesn’t get refurbished, its valuable parts will still be extracted.

Myth 4: It’s okay to put your e-waste in the bin, the council will separate it out anyway

We wish this was the case. Unfortunately, this myth is just wishful thinking. Your local council won’t separate your e-waste for you with a giant magnet. Everything you stick in that black bag will go straight into landfill. But wait. It gets worse.

Every once in a while you might think, so what? It’s just one tiny phone in a big pile of rubbish. What you’re not thinking about, is what happens when your phone starts to erode.

When your phone decays in landfill, all the toxic minerals used to make the battery, microchip and wires seep into the ground.

This causes damage to the soil and all the creatures and plantlife underground. And we don’t want to think about what might happen if those materials got into a water supply.

Recycling your phone is the only way to make sure this doesn’t happen. And you can do it really easily through giffgaff recycle. We’ll do all the hard work for you, and you might even make a little money in the process.

Myth 5: You should never throw out electronics that work, you might need them as back up one day

We’ve all been guilty of buying a new phone before our old one is completely unusable. But that doesn’t mean you should let your old handset sit in a drawer, forgotten and unloved. You had good times, right? Surely it deserves better than that.

You might think that having a back-up phone is only sensible. However, we’re here to tell you it’s actually the opposite.

What would you say if we told you that phone sat in your drawer might actually have been worth some money when you first locked it away?

Of course, it might still be worth money now, but the longer it sits waiting, the less money you’re likely to get by selling it on.

Check out giffgaff recycle today, to see how much your old phones could be worth.

Why care about e-waste?

So there we have it. Some of the most common e-waste myths resolved. But now for the big question: why should we care?

Let’s take a look at the facts.

The average UK household owns more than 9 connected devices. However, according to a recent BT survey, nearly a third (21%) of us don’t know how to recycle our devices once we’re finished with them.

A live counter of e-waste by UnlockNetZero shows that over 9 million tonnes of electrical items have already been sent to landfill this year. That’s the same weight as around 750,000 double decker buses. Wow.

So you see, there’s no denying e-waste is a problem. Now we just need to group together to bust the myths, and muster the confidence to recycle our e-waste the right way.