How to dispose of a SIM card safely

It can be difficult to know how to dispose of many everyday items. One common piece of junk that people often struggle with is SIM cards.

Are they plastic? Metal? Are they safe to throw in the trash? Should they go in with the recycling? Do they need to be disposed of separately? Is SIM card recycling a thing?

Stay tuned and we’ll answer all these questions and more.

Key takeaways

• SIM cards are mostly made of plastic
• The average SIM also contains about 5 cents of gold
• Making SIM cards creates about 75,000 tons of CO2 a year
• SIM recycling is difficult
• eSIM cards are better for the environment

What is a SIM?

You know what it looks like and that it makes your phone work, but what does it actually do?

SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module. It’s a tiny computer chip that holds some basic information to let your phone connect to a network. SIMs are needed to connect to 3G, 4G or 5G networks.

Here’s what is typically on a SIM:

• International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)
• Integrated circuit card identification number (ICCID)
• Personal identification number (PIN)
• Personal unblocking key (PUK)

The IMSI and its related key identifies and authenticates the subscriber. The ICCID identifies the SIM card. Together, these two IDs let you make and receive calls, send text messages and connect to the internet. They say what network your device should connect to.

The PIN is what it sounds like — a password. It’s used when you first install the SIM in your phone. You can usually find it on the back of the plastic support card the SIM is attached to.

The PUK is also usually on the plastic support. It is another password that can be used to unlock your phone.

For example, some phone providers lock your phone to their network. If you want to unlock it, you will need a PUK. So remember to make a note of it! If you get your PIN wrong too many times, you will also need the PUK to unlock it.

What are SIM cards made of?

A SIM card refers to two different elements. The “card” part is plastic (usually PVC). The “SIM” part, like all computer chips, is mostly silicon but also contains other materials such as gold and phosphorous. Gold is used because it conducts electricity well and doesn’t rust.

Why is it important to dispose of a SIM card responsibly?

Like any other plastic waste, SIM cards should be disposed of responsibly. Plastics do not degrade quickly in the environment and can be damaging to human health, the environment and biodiversity.

Recycling plastics also reduces the use of oil and cuts CO2 emissions. Unfortunately, just 9% of plastics are recycled today.

Most of the plastic waste in a SIM card is in the part you throw away after you set up your phone. New SIM cards are attached to a plastic support about the size of a bank card.

The SIM card you put in your phone might seem tiny, but the waste it generates quickly adds up. In 2020 alone, 4.5 billion SIM cards were produced. To make all those cards takes roughly 25,000 metric tons of new plastic and produces 75,000 metric tons of CO2.

The support part of the card is most of this, so recycling it can make a big difference.

Some companies are now making SIM cards from recycled plastic. That means you can help to create new SIM cards by recycling your old one. The support card can go straight in the recycling with all your other recyclable plastic waste.

How to dispose of a SIM card in Ireland?

As the SIM in your phone is a mix of plastic and metals, it cannot easily be recycled.

However, some companies recycle SIM cards to extract the gold. Using acid, they can separate the gold from the silicon and other materials. It takes roughly 1,000 SIM cards to recover one gramme of gold. That’s worth about €50 — or about 5 cents for each card.

Check locally to see if there are companies offering this service. Otherwise, the best option is to dispose of the SIM card with your regular household waste.

How to dispose of a SIM card in the USA?

As the SIM in your phone is a mix of plastic and metals, it cannot easily be recycled.

However, some companies recycle SIM cards to extract the gold. Using acid, they can separate the gold from the silicon and other materials. It takes roughly 1,000 SIM cards to recover one gramme of gold. That’s worth about $50 — or about 5 cents for each card.

Check locally to see if there are companies offering this service. Otherwise, the best option is to dispose of the SIM card with your regular household waste.

How to destroy a SIM card before discarding it?

Many SIM cards don’t contain any sensitive information. In these cases, it’s not important to destroy it.

For example, Apple devices don’t allow you to store any information on the SIM. So if you’ve only ever used an iPhone, there’s no sensitive information on the SIM.

However, Android phones do allow saving contacts to the SIM. To delete these SIM contacts before SIM card disposal, go to the Contacts app and follow these steps:

• Tap the menu icon, choose Contacts to display
• Select SIM
• Tap the menu icon, choose Delete and then Select all

If you’re still worried about sensitive information on the SIM card, you can cut it in half before disposing of it.

Would virtual SIM cards be better for the environment?

Absolutely. Many devices now use electronic SIM (eSIM) cards that don’t involve any plastic waste. Recent iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Google Pixel models, for example, all support eSIMs. However, they’re still not very common.

All of the information on a physical SIM is managed through software on an eSIM. That makes it much easier to swap providers than with a physical SIM card. Of course, the downside is that you can’t easily swap an eSIM between devices.

eSIMs are likely to become more common as 5G rolls out and will save huge amounts of plastic.

But you don’t have to wait until then to make your mobile phone usage less wasteful. Switching to digital top-up can cut down on paper and plastic waste. You can also do the same for other similar products, such as shopping, entertainment and gaming gift cards.