Asda has rolled out almost 300 phone recycling SMARTDrop kiosks in stores across the UK, as part of an ongoing partnership with consumer tech recycling company musicMagpie.
So far, 25,000 phones have been traded in over the past 12 months. With each phone worth an average price of £273, over £7m has already been paid out to customers using the kiosks.
The kiosks – which offer a faster and easier way to recycle unwanted phones for instant cash – have been strategically placed in branches of the supermarket across the country, with 90% of the UK’s population now living within a 15-minute drive of one.
Customers simply take their phone to a kiosk, receive a valuation, deposit the phone and then have the money paid to their bank or PayPal account within minutes.
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The kiosks are also part of a wider sustainability partnership between the two companies.
An affiliate agreement between the two businesses means that Asda customers can buy and sell refurbished consumer technology and entertainment products (such as mobile phones, tablets, DVDs and CDs) with musicMagpie through the Asda.co.uk website and mobile app and when customers are selling their pre-loved items, they can drop them off at any store.
Asda also sells musicMagpie’s pre-owned DVDs and CDs in over 200 of its stores across the country.
musicMagpie ceo and co-founder Steve Oliver described the wider partnership as “an integral part” of the company’s ‘buy more, sell more, rent more’ strategy, adding that it “gives consumers even more opportunities to make decisions that are both smart for them and smart for the planet”.
“In the current climate, it’s critically important that we make it as easy as possible for people to free up cash,” he continued.
“Especially as we know that that the average household has 11 items of unused consumer technology lying around, totalling £16.5bn across the UK and depreciating by the day.”
