Recycle instead of throwing away: Ernst Gürlich accepts old mobile phones in the Tölzer Weltladen. © Arndt Pröhl
Many people still have their old mobile phones at home - and with them valuable raw materials. If you want to do something good, take it to the collection box in the Tölzer Weltladen. In recent months, 850 old mobile phones have already ended up there for recycling.
Bad Tölz – Copper, silver and gold lie around unused in drawers or even end up in household waste. How can that be? The valuable raw materials mentioned above are contained in mobile phones – and many users fail to recycle their old mobile phones in a regulated manner. The team at the Weltladen in Bad Tölz is making a contribution to changing this with a mobile phone collection box. The result is something to be proud of: A certificate from the "Handyaktion Bayern" now certifies that the team has collected 850 mobile phones. As a result, 7650 grams of copper, 127.5 grams of silver and 21.25 grams of gold were recovered.
Recycling is carried out according to specifications
Ernst Gürlich from Königsdorf volunteers to look after the mobile phone collection for the Weltladen. On the one hand, this means that he has taken responsibility for the correct process in various respects. For example, for ensuring that the old mobile phones do not come back onto the market or that no strangers have access to the collection box. In addition, the 68-year-old has to take a close look at the old telephones before sending them to the "Handyaktion Bayern", a cooperation between "Mission Eine Welt" and the "One World Network Bavaria". The take-back system for this is operated by Deutsche Telekom and the recycling company Teqcycle.
As Gürlich explains, the mobile phones may now only be shipped either without a battery or if they can still be switched on and have no damage. "We get a lot of old phones, for example the classic flip phones," reports the Königsdorfer. "With them, the battery can be removed relatively easily." In many modern smartphones, on the other hand, the batteries are so welded that you can't even get them out. Then Gürlich tries – often with success – to get it running again with an old charger. Last but not least, he also has to check in a database whether the respective type of mobile phone is approved for sending. "I had to take a one-hour Zoom course so I knew what I was allowed to send."
Retired engineer likes to repair
As an engineer, he is "tech-savvy," says the Königsdorfer. "If a device breaks down in the household, I tackle it and see if anything can be repaired." That's why, after he retired, he was interested in the mobile phone collection campaign – but above all because he thinks it makes sense to recycle the raw materials it contains. He is convinced that this is more effective through the "mobile phone campaign" than when the old mobile phones end up at the recycling centre together with other electrical appliances. "And if you throw them in the trash, the raw materials are completely lost."
There are around 200 million old mobile phones slumbering in Germany's drawers
In addition, part of the proceeds from the mobile phone campaign – currently 60 cents per phone – will benefit educational projects in Liberia and El Salvador as well as "One World Daycare Centers" in Bavaria. By the way, Deutsche Telekom does not earn anything from the mobile phone take-back. According to the "Handyaktion Bayern", about 25 million new mobile phones are bought annually in Germany alone. Each device is only used for an average of 18 months. "Mobile phones alone cause at least 5000,200 tonnes of electronic waste every year," it says on the homepage of the mobile phone campaign. Around <> million old mobile phones would slumber in Germany's drawers – as unused "treasure chests". And this despite the fact that both the extraction of raw materials and the disposal of electrical scrap are associated with considerable problems for the environment and in terms of human rights.
Appeal: "Use your mobile phones longer"
Last year, around 100 surrendered mobile phones went over his desk, estimates Ernst Gürlich. "But this year it has decreased a bit," he regrets. That's why he joins the appeals of the mobile phone campaign: "Don't throw away your old mobile phones! Use your phones longer! Give used but working phones to friends! Inquire about repair options!"
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