Now’s a great time to find a better use for that old mobile phone – drop it off at an Auckland Council service centre and raise money for the Starship National Air Ambulance Service.
Throughout June and July there will be a Starship Mobile Phone collection box at the council’s main service centres across the region for people who want to help kids and the planet by recycling an old phone.
Auckland Council is joining the successful campaign that has been raising funds for the Starship Foundation since 2009, raising over $2.3 million to help fund the Starship National Air Ambulance.
“Our main centres are located across the region, and we would love to see those Starship mobile phone collection boxes filling up fast,” says Ben Hutchison, manager of Auckland Council customer service centres central.
Once collected, the phones are passed to a specialist recycling company, Swapkit, which grades the phones and wipes the data. Sim and memory cards are also removed and destroyed.
Phones that can still be used are sold to off-shore businesses that specialise in the resale of second-hand mobile phones. They are refurbished and sold as low-cost handsets.
Those that have reached their end of life are broken down and recycled in an environmentally friendly way. All proceeds from the re-sale of mobile devices go to the Starship Foundation.
All mobile phones are accepted regardless of condition (working or non-working), make or model.
The phones are being collected at the following locations:
•Pukekohe service centre, 82 Manukau Road
•Papakura service centre, 35 Coles Crescent
•Manukau service centre, 4 Osterley Way
•Central Auckland service centre, Bledisloe Lane
•Foyer of 135 Albert Street (Auckland Council head office)
•Takapuna service centre, 1 The Strand
•Orewa service centre, 50 Centreway Road
•Henderson service centre, 6 Henderson Valley Road