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How you can help save gorillas by recycling your old phone

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What did you do with your old smartphone?

If its sitting like a useless brick, with no SIM and all your text messages wiped, then perhaps you could put it to better use and save a gorilla.

Okay, perhaps not directly, as they would probably benefit more from a donation to the Gorilla Organization for ranger patrols.

However, scientists have claimed that recycling old smartphones could go a long way to helping these endangered animals.

Portrait of a silver back gorilla standing in the typical pose on legs and hands

Help me! Hand in your old phone! (Picture: Getty)

Thats because mining metals such as gold and coltan for use in handsets has long blighted gorilla habitats in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

If we can get some of that metal back from old phones, less land needs to be lost to mine more.

It is thought that around 400 million people across the world have a neglected old phone.

For every 30 to 40 mobile phones that are recycled, on average, one gram of gold can be recovered, said great ape expert and lead paper author Dr Carla Litchfield.

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Just as mobile phone sales are soaring, and gold content is increasing in some smartphones, natural sources of gold are expected to run out by 2030.

You dont need that old phone anyway (Picture: Getty)

However the report, published in the PLOS One journal by the University of South Australia and Zoos Victoria, points out there are not enough mobile phone recycling facilities in many countries, while secrecy around phone mineral composition is another issue.

Privacy concerns about scrapping an old device are also holding back people from recycling smartphones, as well as hoarding.

Hoarding is problematic since precious metals are not extracted and returned to the circular economy, creating the need to mine these metals in wilderness areas, Dr Litchfield said.

The other issue is that if people do discard their old phones, most dispose of them in their household waste, ending up in landfill, where they leach toxic metals.

Recent estimates for the DRC suggest that critically endangered Grauers gorillas have fallen by between 73% and 93%, with fewer than 4,000 remaining in the wild.

How can I recycle my old phone?

Most household waste centres will have a section for electricals, which includes mobiles.

You could get some extra cash by trading it in at phone shops.

Apple stores, for example, will recycle your old phones and tablets – and youll get a trade-in card with the value of the handset. An iPhone 5 in good order, for example, currently redeems for £25.

Lots of other phone shops will accept them for recycling, so when you buy a new one ask if they have a scheme.

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Many charities also accept phones. Oxfam lets you bring a phone into their shops, or if you have five or more theyll send a courier to pick them up.

Make sure you remove your personal data before turning in your old phone.

To do this, its usually along the lines of: Settings -> About -> Reset Phone to Factory Settings.

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