A friend pointed me in the direction of Simply Drop, a UK service that recycles old mobile phones, mp3 players and digital cameras, and gives you money in return. You can also choose to have the cash donated to one of five charites, should you be feeling philanthropic.
On their website, you can select the model of device that you have, and if it’s in working order, it will tell you how much (if anything) they will pay you for it. In a box in the loft I have an old Nokia 6600 and a Sony Ericsson K750i. According to Simply Drop, they’re worth £11 apiece. That’s excellent for something that I consider obsolete.
Devices that are sent in are either recycled for their components and the metals they contain, or refurbished and re-sold. Whether your phone is worth money or not, having them sit in landfill is not a good thing.
You can apply for special pre-paid padded envelopes to be sent to you (for free). Then, register your items on the website. Pop your retired mobile devices into the envelope, and post. When your device has been received and checked at their end, you are then paid for your eligible devices via PayPal, or you can collect cash from the Post Office (with ID and a special SMS message).
Simply Drop is run by Royal Mail, so it’s run by a trustworthy source. Whether a device is worth anything or not, it’s free to send devices to them for recycling. I will be asking around my family to see if we can’t have an old phone amnesty!
I will update this post when I have been through the whole process and have been paid.