subject: Recycling Mobile Phones And Various Options [print this page] Although consumers are being encouraged to recycle and reuse, I realized recently that the electronics industry and especially cell phone companies are responsible for encouraging consumers to accumulate a lot of old cell phones. Some estimate around 800 million of them are lying around unwanted in our homes!
Its easy enough to throw an old cell phone into the garbage, it doesnt look like much but some of the components release highly toxic chemicals into the environment. Imagine 800 million of them rotting away in the ground and you can understand what an environmental nightmare this could become. Toxic chemicals can leach into groundwater which then becomes our drinking water, complete with heavy metals.
Its not hard to find somewhere that recycles mobile phones. The first place to look is online to see if there are any local places where you can drop them off. Local charities are a good place to start. One gives them to the elderly and sets them up to be used in emergency and the recipient is encouraged to carry the phone at all times. If the person needs medical assistance then they simply call 911 and help is at hand.
Another charity works with battered wives. The women that receive these phones for free are often in danger from their ex-husbands or boyfriends, so again these phones are redesigned to be used in emergency situations. The good thing about donating old cell phones to charity is you can get rid of all those old cases and chargers too.
Many old cell phones are obsolete, you cant even give them away and you certainly cant sell them, but you can recycle older mobile phones with some of the big box electronics stores.
One company has come out with an ATM-type machine where you can take your old cell phone. The machine automatically clears the memory and pays you cash on the spot. Most of these machines are concentrated in California but the company is expanding across the country. The company then disposes of the phones in an ecologically-responsible way.
Some mobile phone companies are now including a recycling option right in the box in which you receive your new phone. Fill in a preprinted form and stick the prepaid label on the box and drop it in the mail, so now nobody should have a problem when they want to recycle their old mobile phone.
by: Jill Cohen
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