Happier Abroad Forum Community

People say not to throw phones or electronics into the trash but what else should I do with them?

I have better ones...I don't need junk.

I might have no other option except to throw them into the trash.

You can. Why wouldn't you be able to?

A couple years ago I gave a dated mobile phone to someone I know. She was needy at that time.

Of course I factory reset it. You could just leave it out in the open somewhere and someone will take it. I do that with clothes I don't want.

I can only answer how it is done here in Japan. Every ward office has a collection trash box near the entrance for small electric/electronic devices. Everything like hairdryer, mixer, computer parts, keyboards, calculators, digital cameras, cables, torch lights etc. just bring it there and put it in the box during office hours. Service is free of charge.

Old mobile phones are always collected for free by the phone company where you bought them, (docomo, AU, softbank etc.) but in general most people exchange them for a newer model and update the service provider contract.

Batteries, there is a collection day once a month for small batteries of any kind. Just put old batteries in a transparent plastic bag in front of the house not later than 8:30 AM on that day and it will be collected within a few hours.

Larger broken electric/electronic junk like note-books, monitors or workstation computers, printers etc. will be accepted by department stores selling electric/electronic item against a fee depending on size/maker - usually they will charge about USD 8- to 15,- per item and give you a receipt for orderly discharge - in general Japanese people do not fly-tip their trash. The garbage system is working really very good here.

I could but the anyone outside the US couldn't use it. It is a really cheap phone that would only work with a US mobile carrier (no sim card slot). I think this specific phone I should just throw into the trash. I don't feel like wasting 2-6 hours of time walking to recycle a phone or paying taxi money to recycle a phone.

I am not in the US.

I am going to be leaving at least one phone behind as a gift.

I guess its okay for me to throw it into the trash. It is junk and can't be used by anyone outside America.

Yohan wrote: ↑

April 5th, 2021, 10:33 am

I can only answer how it is done here in Japan...

...

Larger broken electric/electronic junk like note-books, monitors or workstation computers, printers etc. will be accepted by department stores selling electric/electronic item against a fee depending on size/maker - usually they will charge about USD 8- to 15,- per item and give you a receipt for orderly discharge - in general Japanese people do not fly-tip their trash. The garbage system is working really very good here.

Does that mean Japanese people might throw a monitor or a printer into the trash because they do not want to pay money to recycle it at a department store?

Tsar wrote: ↑

April 5th, 2021, 12:38 pm

Yohan wrote: ↑

April 5th, 2021, 10:33 am

I can only answer how it is done here in Japan......

Larger broken electric/electronic junk like note-books, monitors or workstation computers, printers etc. will be accepted by department stores selling electric/electronic item against a fee depending on size/maker - usually they will charge about USD 8- to 15,- per item and give you a receipt for orderly discharge - in general Japanese people do not fly-tip their trash. The garbage system is working really very good here.

Does that mean Japanese people might throw a monitor or a printer into the trash because they do not want to pay money to recycle it at a department store?

You have to sort your trash in Japan.

Ordinary trash services (like trash from the kitchen, can, bottles, cartons etc) in Japan are not for free either. However such collectors will refuse to take a computer monitor or printer. They take only what they can recycle.

Here in Japan are many collectors, either from private recycle businesses or from the ward office. They distribute lists what kind of garbage they accept, what is for free and what is not and how much, and when they will come to pick it up.

For example the ward office trash service is collecting large burnable items, including wooden furniture, bed table chairs etc. - you call the office and they will ask how big is this furniture, your address and will give you a date and how much is the fee to pay (something like USD 2,- to USD 5,- per piece) - you can buy trash coupons in every convenience store. In evening before of the collection date you fix these trash labels on the furniture, put the furniture in front of the house and after lunch next day it is gone.

There is no fly-tipping, streets are very clean in all Japan.
I never had a problem to remove any form of garbage in all my years in Japan.

I can say the garbage system really works, there is no trash around in the streets wherever you are in Japan, neither in cities nor in rural areas.

There is also English information in places with many foreigners, like in Tokyo.
https://resources.realestate.co.jp/livi ... o-by-ward/

There are little electronic kiosks at Walmart that might give you money for the phone if it is not too old. Phones can also have small amounts of expensive metals in them.

MrMan wrote: ↑

April 8th, 2021, 3:59 pm

There are little electronic kiosks at Walmart that might give you money for the phone if it is not too old. Phones can also have small amounts of expensive metals in them.

I think I might keep it if I could eventually get money for it in America.

If you erase hard drives, there are ways to retrieve data if it isn't written over first. I suppose this applies to phones. But for most regular people, it isn't worth the trouble. Maybe if you are a spy it's an issue.

I think cell phones have bits of gold and other important minerals in them, so it's good if you can recycle. There are little electronic kiosks in the US where you can put in a phone and it gives you some money, but not for all models. I think there are services where you can mail and donate your phone. I don't know if they charge you or pay you or what. It might be worth looking up online. Let us know what you find out.

I think an unwanted phone can be donated to someone who will need it. For example, I remember my father, when he flew on a business trip to Africa, bought a phone, especially for a local worker, as he could not afford to buy it there because of the very low wages. He himself uses an IPhone X and also uses a VoIP number to call from anywhere in the world wherever he wants.