A few easy tips on how to make sure your technology stays eco-friendly!

With all the excitement of getting your latest gadget out of the box, you can forget what to do with the tired old technology it's replacing.

With plenty of precious materials inside them, your old mobiles, laptops and batteries can be repurposed and recycled and sometimes can provide you with a financial reward.

It is extremely important to ensure that all your personal data has been wiped from your electronics before recycling them. See these handy guides on how to do just that.

How to recycle computers, laptops and tablets

To find your nearest recycling centre for computers and laptops, you can type in your postcode and recycle near me nd select 'Computers' in the 'Choose an item to recycle' box. It will then show you where your nearest recycling point for larger personal electronics is.

You can also find a store that will take any electrical product off your hands and recycle it for free, even if you haven’t bought it from the shop.  

If you want to give away an old Dell Computer, the company offers you the chance to recycle your purchases.

And, if you have also just bought a new Dell system, monitor, printer or scanner, you can return any manufacturer brand as part of its recycling scheme.

You have to find your Dell order number, which will be on your Dell invoice or confirmation letter, and the serial number on the back of the equipment. If you’re returning an old item and have lost the order number, the serial number will still be enough.

To return both PC and monitor, these must be boxed separately and you will have to provide your contact information and collection information. 

For Apple products, the company offers a service to recycle iPads, iPhones, smartphones, Mac Desktops, Mac notebooks or PCs.

How to recycle batteries

You can usually return your old batteries to the place you bought them. If a store sells more than 32kg of batteries annually (roughly 345 four-packs of AA batteries), that shop must provide battery recycling collections in store. This includes large stores and smaller retailers. 

All household batteries can be recycled, watch batteries. Remember that when handing back laptop and mobile batteries, electrical tape must be put over the terminals.
 

How to recycle mobile phones

Inside your smartphone is a host of materials that can be reused, such as metals, plastics and silver. One of the easiest way to ensure your phone lives on is to pass it on to a charity shop, which can make money by selling them on to mobile phone recycling companies.

Often you can return the mobile phone to the shop you bought it from and make money by selling it back to the supplier. For instance, some companies allow you to send it your phones from any network to a freepost address. Enter your device and details on the condition of the phone and you receive a quote based on that.

Alternatively, you can drop them in at household waste and recycle centres in the 'small electricals' section.

How to recycle printer cartridges

One way to recycle your printer cartridges and give to charity in the process, is to send them to a foundation that recycles them for you and gets a return for it. Print off a free postage label and package up your old cartridges and send them in the post, and the charity should receive up to $4.50 for each cartridge successfully recycled.  

Or, if you ordered HP inkjet or LaserJet cartridges, you can return your used ones by printing their labels and sending them back to the company.

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