The survey finds that 12% of Aussies, or just over one-in-ten, say they’re holding onto their old phone “just in case there might be an unpredictable ‘end of world’ event.”
Exactly why these survey respondents think the mobile network will be operational in case of such an event is unknown, but its the reason that was given.
Other reasons that Australians identified with were: “everything retro being cool again and that their old mobile would come back in fashion (8%), considering escaping email culture and going back to a mobile without internet capability (6%) and simply wanting to see how many they could collect (8%).”
Rose Read, MobileMuster’s recycling manager said: “It was somewhat of a surprise to us that an unpredictable doomsday scenario such as a freak weather event, or possibly even aliens landing on earth, would be a reason why many Australians are holding onto their old mobile phones. “Other quirky reasons for keeping an old mobile phone included it would bring them good luck, it was the first phone they ever owned or they could play ‘snake’ on it.”
The survey also revealed that most Australians (95%) greatly underestimated how many unused old mobiles are lying around in homes.
“Most Aussies thought there were between one to five million old mobiles in homes. Our market research indicates that there are actually over 23 million of them, one for every man, woman and child in Australia,” commented Read.
“Australians are not just holding onto one old mobile, many are holding onto two, three, four or five old handsets plus accessories, some of which are nearly 15 years old”.
“While we recognise many people may keep one working mobile as a backup ‘just in case’, you have to really question the need to hang on to that second, third or fourth handset anymore? Especially, when most are more than 5 years old and at least a quarter are broken or wouldn’t work on the current networks”, added Read. Over 90% of the materials in your mobile can be recovered and used to make batteries or other products, replacing scarce natural resources.
“So don’t let a ridiculous reason stop you from doing something good for the environment, recycle your old mobiles and accessories now with MobileMuster. With more than 4,000 public drop off points Australia wide at all major mobile phone retailers there is no excuse,” concluded Read.
As the only not-for-profit government accredited recycling program in Australia, the organisation says that “people can be assured that when they recycle their old mobiles and accessories with MobileMuster they will be processed safely, securely and ethically, with all data being destroyed during the process.”
All revenue generated from recycling materials is invested back into the Australian community through MobileMuster’s schools program – Musterkids – local council communities, environmental and social activities, and contributions to Salvos Stores.
Through resource recovery and reuse, since late 1998, MobileMuster says it has reduced the need to mine 36,295 tonnes of precious metal ore, which is equivalent to keeping 2,400 cars off the road, planting 53,000 trees or preventing 8,781 tonnes of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time diverting tonnes of potentially harmful substances from landfill.
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