Virgin Media O2 wants to buy your Nintendo Switch, PS5, or MacBook to reduce your monthly bills
Nintendo Switch is one of the consoles now accepted with O2 Recycle, offering up to £110 in cash
UNSPLASH
Want to cut your monthly phone or broadband bills? Virgin Media O2 is offering anyone the chance to cash-in an old games console, laptop, earbuds, or smartphone for cash.
O2 Recycle has been around since October 2009 and paid out £341 million in the last 15 years. But starting today, the mobile network is now accepting consoles for the first time.
Hardware from PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and Oculus will be accepted. You’ll receive up to £283 for a PlayStation 5, up to £110 for a Nintendo Switch, and up to £238 for an Xbox Series X.
That money can be wiped directly from your monthly bills — either slashing the total cost of your smartphone, or monthly allocation of minutes and mobile data. If you’d rather spend the extra cash on something else, O2 does offer to transfer the money via BACs or cheques.
You can also donate the funds to charity.
A glimpse inside one of the O2 Recycle facilities where devices are inspected, torn apart to recycle, or refurbished to be sold in O2 stores
O2 PRESS OFFICE
According to research from O2, 8 in 10 (83%) surveyed admit they’re holding onto old consoles, despite not planning to use them. Of those, 75% said they would recycle a console they’re not using if they were paid for it.
As well as games consoles, O2 Recycle accepts MacBooks, smartphones, tablets, wearables like Apple Watch, and wireless earbuds like Galaxy Buds. When O2 receives your unwanted gadget, teams will repair, refurbish and resell it. If that’s possible, your device will be recycled.
O2 says that zero parts will be sent to landfill.
Best of all, you don’t even need to be on the O2 network or Virgin Media broadband to take advantage of the scheme — EE, Vodafone, Sky Mobile, and Three customers are also welcome.
O2 Recycle processed some 180,000 devices last year alone, saving them from landfills, either by recycling or reselling them as “like new” in-store. The scheme forms part of Virgin Media O2’s sustainability strategy, dubbed the Better Connections Plan.
Speaking about the decision to open up O2 Recycle to games consoles for the first time, Chief Sustainability Officer at Virgin Media O2 Dana Haidan said: “We’ve powered up O2 Recycle to cover consoles and MacBooks, making it even easier for people to trade in their unwanted tech for cash and to protect the planet by saving their device from landfill.
“With almost four million devices recycled and £340 million paid out, O2 Recycle is leading the UK’s circular economy and giving tech a second life so it can be used again and again.”
Scott Butler, Executive Director from Recycle Your Electricals, said: “We've all got that ‘drawer of doom’ stashed full of electricals, including cables, spare plugs, phones, and for some of us a stash of spare game consoles and accessories. Now's the time to cash in your old electricals.
“Our research found that households could make anything from £1,300 to £6k by selling their unwanted electricals. This great initiative by O2 Recycle will make it easier for all those gaming consoles to be either sold or recycled.”
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Virgin Media and O2 completed their £31 billion merger back in June 2021. Since then, there have been a number of changes for customers who hold contracts with both O2 or Virgin Media, including more mobile data and faster broadband speeds at no extra cost. Virgin Media customers now benefit from O2 Priority access too, unlocking early access to gig tickets and free coffees from high street chains each week.