How can I reuse or recycle phone chargers/battery rechargers?

chargerWe’ve had an email from Elizabeth:

I have quite a collection of recharger plugs for stolen or broken mobile phones, cordless drills, etc. These never seem to fit the newer versions. What should I do with them?

I believe in the UK they’re covered by the WEEE Directive and nearly all household waste sites have specific points for electronic equipment to ensure they’re disposed of safely.

That’s just disposal though and it would be better to reuse them if possible. If you still know the maker/model of the original piece of equipment, you might want to try putting them on eBay – or selling them at a car boot sale or giving them away on Freecycle – to see if someone else could use them. Some charities that collect old mobile phones might also welcome old chargers – they usually say whether or not they want them on their websites.

(There is a move to make a universal mobile phone charger – nearly all the major manufacturers have agreed to use it – so hopefully that’ll cut down this problem slightly in the future.)

Any other suggestions for reuses or ways to recycle them?

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10 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle phone chargers/battery rechargers?”


  1. TheGreenerMe says:

    A lot of places do accept these as donations, including senior centers and cellphones for soldiers. Also, your local recycling center might have a drop off center for used electronics equipment where people can pick up items like these if they want them.

  2. I think a universal charger would be fabulous. Not only will it cut down on a lot of waste but it will make our lives easier.

    I have at least 20 old chargers sitting around between my cell phones and my husbands. We are planning on recycling them soon, but in the interim they have a box in the garage where we stick them all.

  3. Marissa says:

    If you have any chargers, headsets or old cell phones to recycle, go to haveUrebooted.com for a free mail-in label or free drop off location

    -Cell phones are one of the least recycled electronics in the world and over 100,000 go out of use every year in the US alone. They are horrible for the environment if they get thrown away and every part of them can be recycled!

  4. Anonymous says:

    make a robot out of boxes and stuff and glue the chargers on it

  5. WEEE says:

    If you want information on WEEE labels, the WEEE Directive or WEEE Compliance there’s details on the site in the title of this =)

    Andrea

  6. sirmosh says:

    You can always send them along with your old and even broken phone to a mobile recycling company. I’ve found the site http://www.compareandrecycle.co.uk which can find you the best price to recycle your old phone.

  7. We see lots of old chargers being recycled, laptop ones in particular. Iv’e heard about the steps to make mini-USB a mobile standard, let’s hope they start moves for a standard laptop charger too.

  8. lucy says:

    Sainsbury’s are collecting old phone chargers during August 2010. They are hoping to collect 150,000 which will be sent to recylcing (worth 5000tonne of waste!) Do your bit for the environment and hand it in! :)

  9. lucy says:

    Sainsburys are collecting old phone chargers for recycling during the month of August 2010, saving 5000 tonnes of waster. Do your bit for the environment and drop yours in!

  10. When reading this post it made me think of a similar problem we get with regard to unwanted, used battery chargers. Is there a similar scenario with regard to those?



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