Every cell phone can be recycled, their age or condition is not important. All makes and models of mobile phones from all over the world, pagers and PDAs (like Palm Pilots) as well, including batteries, chargers and other accessories. By taking those old gadgets out of your sock drawer, you can help our environment, help a charity or get some cash.
You can recycle your wireless device through a drop-off location, mail back programs, through an internet site or by donating it to a charity. Did you know it’s possible to receive up to $150 for a used cell phone? Many outfits pay back $5 or more.
There are currently more than 200 million cell phone users in the US who upgrade their old devices on the average, every 18 months. This means that more than 100 million cell phones are expected to be replaced this year! If you add that number to the more than half a billion old units currently residing in drawers and closets around the country and that less than 5% of these phones are collected for reuse and recycling, you can see the tremendous business opportunity available.
Each day about 360,000 more units are added to the stockpile. That’s more than 4 each second. Before you are done reading this article another 500 cell phones will be retired.
These things are potentially hazardous waste because they contain lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic. If thrown in the trash and sent to incinerators or landfills, environmental contamination can occur from combustion and leaching into soil and groundwater.
The EPA estimated that just in 2005, 130 million cell phones were thrown away equaling 65,000 tons of waste containing toxic metals!
Every cell phone can be recycled, their age or condition is not important. All makes and models of mobile phones from all over the world, pagers and PDAs (like Palm Pilots) as well, including batteries, chargers and other accessories. By taking those old gadgets out of your sock drawer, you can help our environment, help a charity or get some cash.
You can recycle your wireless device through a drop-off location, mail back programs, through an internet site or by donating it to a charity.
Did you know it’s possible to receive up to $150 for a used cell phone?
Many outfits pay back $5 or more. One company even pays folks $5 for referring their friends too.
Given the way cell phones accumulate, y if any of those old suckers around your home worth any money.
Three things to remember before you recycle your wireless phone:
- Terminate your service,
- Clear the phones memory of contacts and other stored information,
- Remove your SIM card, if it has one. Phones that operate on GSM networks use SIM Cards. If you are not sure or if you need assistance removing your SIM card contact your wireless provider.
If a phone is broken, its working parts are removed. "New" phones are eventually assembled from the usable parts of different phones.
All unusable materials and batteries are sent to EPA-certified partners who dispose of them in a way that is not harmful to the environment
To learn more about opportunities for profit, check these links:
If you want to donate your old cell phones to charitable causes, check these sites:
Related Posts (
Most Popular Posts 