Over 60kg of copper and steel recovered from seized devices now back in the circular economy

BMRA member Recycling Lives has shared some impressive figures from recycling mobile phones for the Prison Service.

6,000 phones ranging from tiny devices to modern smart phones weighed in at 231kg. They were crushed down to 122kg of plastic/waste, 54kg of steel, 47kg of circuit boards and 8kg of copper. 

The phones are forensically examined by prison intelligence units before being sent for destruction and recycling. It took just minutes to dispose of the of handsets through the firm’s industry-leading machinery at its Recycling Park in Preston, Lancashire,

Rory Stewart, Minister of State for Prisons, said: “I am grateful to our staff and Recycling Lives for taking the initiative to create this partnership. We are working hard to keep mobiles out of prisons so they can be places of stability and rehabilitation, and it is fitting that seized phones are being processed in this way.”

Around 14,000 mobile phones and thousands more SIM cards, are confiscated from prisoners each year. The work between Recycling Lives and Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) came as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced plans to allow more offenders to have access to a landline phone in their cell, in a bid to tackle violence on wings and improve offenders’ family links. The £30m plan follows a pilot in 20 prisons, which found phones in cells reduced violence between prisoners and enhanced contact and links with families. It will now be extended across a further 20 prisons over two years. The pilot at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, where Recycling Lives employs men to build skips in a fabrication HMP Academy, was praised by prison inspectors for its positive impact. The report by prison inspectors also noted how Recycling Lives’ work was improving outcomes for offenders at the Category B institution.

Alasdair Jackson, CSR & Sustainability Director for Recycling Lives, said: “We have historically strong links with the MoJ through our HMP Academies programme. When the call came about the issue of illicit phones we were only too happy to help. Even better is the fact that any profit from the destruction and recycling of the phones will go straight into our social enterprise which works to reduce reoffending upon release.”