Repair first. Recycle right.
Australia produces over 500,000 tonnes of e-waste every year. Most of it ends up in landfill — or shipped overseas to be someone else's problem.
Right now, one company controls most of the national recycling pipeline. Mendly is building a local alternative — transparent, certified, and accountable to Brisbane and SEQ.
How we think about it
The hierarchy we follow, every time
Repair is always first
If a device can be fixed, we fix it. Keeping it in use is the single most effective thing you can do for e-waste.
Refurbish what can't be repaired
Devices that are beyond economic repair get assessed for refurbishment — cleaned, tested, and given a second life.
Harvest parts from the rest
Screens, batteries, cameras — components that still work get pulled and reused in future repairs, reducing virgin parts consumption.
Certified recycling as the last resort
Only when nothing else is possible do we send devices for material recovery — through certified, audited processors. Nothing goes to landfill.
Why it matters
SEQ deserves its own recycling pipeline
The way device recycling works in Australia right now, almost everything is funnelled through a single national operator. That means less visibility, less accountability, and no real connection to the communities generating the waste.
Mendly is building something different — a Brisbane-based recycling intake program that processes devices locally, works with certified downstream partners, and reports transparently on what actually happens to every device we collect.
It's early. The program is growing. But every device you bring in is a real contribution to getting this right.
Drop off a device