Hornsby Shire residents have been crowned the top mobile phone recycler in Australia for a fifth consecutive year, claiming MobileMuster’s Top Collector Award for 2023.
The MobileMuster awards acknowledge the local councils that have collected the most mobile phone components for recycling between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.
Residents of Hornsby Shire deposited 759kgs of unwanted mobile phones, chargers and accessories to the national MobileMuster recycling drive over the 12-month. This was:
- an increase of 13% on the previous year
- 48% higher than the next council and represented
- 12% of total council collections from all across Australia.
At Council’s Community Recycling Centre in Thornleigh, residents recycled the equivalent of 6,272 handsets and batteries, conserving 3.2 tonnes of mineral resources through the recycling process of these devices.
The environmental benefits of recycling all these unwanted mobiles and batteries are equivalent to planting 35 trees with avoided co2 emissions equating to 2.28 tonnes.
Hornsby Shire Mayor, Philip Ruddock said he is delighted that Hornsby has once again taken out the top recycling prize.
“To claim this national award for a fifth straight year, it is a testament to our community’s commitment to caring for the environment for future generations. We are proud of our residents for taking steps that will benefit all of us,” said Mayor Ruddock.
“Local government plays a crucial role in educating the community on the best ways to recycle. I thank our Waste team for their work in sharing this important message, and everyone who has supported this valuable initiative to help us lead the charge as the nation’s top mobile phone recycler.”
MobileMuster is the product stewardship program of the telecommunications industry. The program recovers more than 95 per cent of the material from old phones and accessories through recycling, which are used in manufacturing new products, reducing the need for virgin materials such as aluminium, copper, gold, silver, cobalt and lithium.
Louise Hyland, CEO of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) congratulated Hornsby Shire on its achievement and thanked residents for their recycling efforts.
“We applaud Hornsby Shire’s ongoing commitment and success in recycling old and broken mobile phones and their accessories. Educating and encouraging residents, and making recycling easy and accessible, are important ways to keep up these high collection volumes and help the environment for future generations. Well done,” Louise said.
To find more information or your closest local drop-off point in the Shire, visit www.mobilemuster.com.au/recycle-a-mobile.
