Zoos SA
Zoos SA is a non-government conservation charity, every visit, adoption, donation and ticket helps to save species from extinction.

You can help support primate conservation in Africa simply by recycling your old mobile phones.

Australians typically upgrade their mobile phone every 2 to 3 years, which means millions of phones are being left in drawers at home or dumped into landfill. Did you know you can recycle them?

Recycling your old mobiles and accessories can have a big impact:

  • Mobile phones are made from numerous materials, including precious metals, by recycling them we reduce the need to mine and take less from the earth.
  • Electronic waste, including poisonous substances and plastics, should not be disposed of in landfill. Through recycling, we can recover over 95% of the materials used!
  • Electronic devices have a large manufacturing carbon footprint. But, if we manufacture products using recycled materials, we reduce the need for virgin materials and save the energy required to extract and process them.

How many mobile phones are sitting in your drawers and cupboards?

Zoos SA is helping divert mobile phones from landfill. By recycling your old phones you will be conserving natural resources, reducing the need to mine and protecting the environment. Some donated phones will also be refurbished and reused, providing communication to people who cannot afford phones. Others will be dismantled and their compartments reused in other technology, ensuring minimal waste.

When you donate your unused phones to Zoos SA, the funds generated through recycling directly supports on-ground work with Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary and the Jane Goodall Institute Australia.

Tacugama have over 80 Chimpanzees in their Rehabilitation Centre in Sierra Leone, and run community outreach, wildlife field research, environmental sustainability, conservation education and alternative livelihoods programs.

The Jane Goodall Institute Australia are supporting education, research and community programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 

Hear more from Dr Jane Goodall in this video:

They're calling on you

 

How can you help?

Helping conservation by recycling mobile phones is easy!

As a visitor, family or individual:

You can drop your old mobile phones at the collection points at Adelaide Zoo or Monarto Safari Park. If you have more than 10 devices along with their accessories, you can arrange for a free courier pickup – why not see if your friends or colleagues have some phones too!

As a business or school:

Encourage your workplace or school to recycle old phones. You can set up your own collection box using the poster on our website (or create your own!). When you have more than 10 devices along with any accessories, you can arrange for a free courier pickup.

If you would like to incorporate phone recycling as part of a programmed school visit, mention it to our Zoo Learning team when you are making your booking.

Book your free collection today!

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Whenever you hear your mobile ringing, it’s a reminder that They’re Calling on You to help.

MobileMuster is the product stewardship program of the mobile phone industry and is accredited by the federal government. It provides a free mobile phone recycling program in Australia to the highest environmental standard. Since 1998, the program has collected and recycled nearly 1,500 tonnes of mobiles and accessories, comparable to the weight of 250 African elephants, including over 14 million handsets and batteries.

 

Since 2011, PhoneCycle has provided businesses with a convenient and rewarding solution for mobile phone management. During this time we have collected and sold or recycled over 300,000 devices and we are proud to have raised over $350,000 for our charity partners.

Zoos SA is a conservation charity and we want to help in every way we can. Our mobile phone recycling program provides everyone with the opportunity to take action, simply by donating unused mobile phones.

Through the program, and with your help, Zoos SA is hoping to:

  • Reduce the demand for coltan mining
  • Raise funding to support primate conservation in Sierra Leone through our partnership with
  • Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
  • Reduce waste by diverting phones from landfill
  • Raise awareness of the coltan mining crisis and the role we all play

All types of mobile phones can be donated! They do not have to be working or in good condition. The most important part is diverting these devices from landfill, re-using them or recycling their parts.

You can drop your old mobile phones at the collection points at Adelaide or Monarto Safari Park. If you have more than 10 devices, you can arrange for a free courier pickup through the courier link above – see if your friends or colleagues have some phones too!

Encourage your workplace or school to recycle old phones. You can set up your own collection box using the poster on this page.

When you have more than 10 devices, you can arrange for a free courier pickup through our website.If you would like to incorporate phone recycling as part of a programmed school visit to Adelaide or Monarto Safari Park, mention it to our Zoo Learning team when you are making your booking.

If you would like to become a corporate partner in our phone recycling program, please contact Zoos SA.

You should try and remove any personal information on your phone before donating it. PhoneCycle can data clear devices where technically possible in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications if requested. If you would like your devices data cleared simply notify PhoneCycle when arranging your collection.

If you’re donating an Apple iPhone that uses iOS7 software or above please make sure that you remove your iCloud account from your device and turn off the Find My iPhone application before handing it in. While all devices are accepted for recycling as part of the campaign, there will be a better financial outcome for phones that are not iCloud activation locked. For more information on removing iCloud accounts, please visit: http://support.apple.com/en-us/ht5661 or http://support.apple.com/en-us/ts4515

Yes, please include batteries and any accessories with the devices. Please leave the batteries inside the devices if possible. Any batteries that are not contained or have fallen out of devices need to be packaged in bubble wrap to help with their safe transport.

If you wish to keep your SIM card please ensure you remove it before donating a device. SIM cards left in devices will be recycled via PhoneCycle.

Yes please! We accept all mobile phones, smart phones, ipads, tablets and associated accessories.

There is no need to use special packaging but they need to be packed securely, including:

  • Use strong outer packaging to prevent damage during transportation.
  • The devices must be secured against movement within the outer packaging and be packed to prevent accidental operation during transport.
  • Please leave batteries inside the handsets wherever possible. If a mobile phone battery is sent without a handset, the battery should be wrapped in bubble wrap or something similar to avoid
    short circuit. No more than 2 mobile phone batteries outside of equipment.
  • Do not include any batteries that have been damaged or swollen.
  • The address label including the lithium battery warning and consignment label should be taped to the package for collection.

No – you do not have to pay for the courier. Simply arrange the booking through the website and PhoneCycle and Zoos SA will do the rest.

We’ll tell you! If you have organised collection online, once we have received and processed your phone, we will send you an email to say THANK YOU for helping us support conservation in the wild. For donations made at our collection points – if you would like to be notified when we have received your phone, please make sure you include an email address with the phone(s).

Zoos SA is working with PhoneCycle, who manage the collection and processing of the mobile phones and devices. Whether you have dropped your phone at Adelaide or Monarto Safari Park, arranged a courier yourself or are donating phones through schools and workplaces, every device ends up with PhoneCycle. They are then examined and graded individually, to assess the donation value and best environmental outcome for each device. Their value is assessed based on the make, model and grade, and includes if they are  working, are complete, incomplete or damaged and whether they are obsolete or have a low market demand for reuse.

The technical team at PhoneCycle tries to complete and refurbish as many phones as possible using the parts received from non-working phones to ensure maximum reuse of the phones they receive.

If mobile devices are not suitable for reuse, they are recycled through MRI e-cycle Solutions. If mobile phones or their parts cannot be reused then over 95% of their materials can be recycled.
All mobile phone accessories such as chargers, as well as batteries from phones not suitable for reuse are sent on to MobileMuster, who complete the recycling process.  MobileMuster is the recycling program of the Australian mobile phone industry, voluntarily fund by the major telecommunications companies.

Proceeds are donated through PhoneCycle to Zoos SA to help primate conservation in the wild.

Zoos SA is working with Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, and the proceeds generated through phone refurbishment and resale will support their in-situ work in Sierra Leone.

Tacugama have over 80 Chimpanzees in their Rehabilitation Centre, and run community outreach, wildlife field research, environmental sustainability, conservation education and alternative livelihoods programs. For more information about Tacugama see tacugama.com

Zoos SA is working with the Jane Goodall Institute Australia to support education, research and community programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For more information see www.janegoodall.org.au

About Zoos SA

Zoos SA is a not-for-profit conservation charity that exists to connect people with nature and save species from extinction. Zoos SA acknowledges the Country on which we stand always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land and we pay our deepest respect and gratitude to Kaurna (Adelaide Zoo) and Ngarrindjeri (Monarto Safari Park) Elders, past, present and emerging. We undertake critical conservation work throughout Australia and acknowledge the traditional custodians of these lands.

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