Recycling Cell Phones

Did you know that this week is National Cell Phone Recycling Week? It sure is and not a moment too soon because there are so many unused phones that need to be recycled instead of being thrown in a landfill. I'm sure your parents have a cell phone or two they don't use anymore and what better to time to recycle them than this week?

So the official name of this campaign sponsored by the U.S EPA is "Plug-In To e-Recycling National Cell Phone Week" but you guys get the point. Through April 11, the campaign brings cell phone manufacturers and service providers together to educate consumers to recycle used cell phones, batteries, chargers, etc. All these items can be recycled but most aren't. Experts estimate that only 1% of the 4 billion wireless users worldwide recycle their old cell phones. In the U.S. only 1 in 10 cell phones are recycled.


All of this leads me to wonder where all these cell phones are that haven't been recycled. Are they in junk drawers or in landfills? Putting all that e-waste into landfills leads to the materials in the phones- copper, plastic, & heavy metals - leaching into the soil and water - yuk! All those reusable materials are going to waste. The EPA says that for every 1 million cell phones recycled, we can recover 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver, 33 pounds of palladium, and 35,274 pounds of copper. Another problem with cell phones in landfills is that the batteries can explode if exposed to high temperatures or direct sunlight. E-waste doesn't belong in landfills any more than plastic does.

So how can you recycle your used cell phones? There are so many ways that there's really no excuse not to. The EPA is partnering with AT&T, Best Buy, LG Electronics, RecycleBank, Samsung Mobile, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless to recycle all the cell phones you,your family and friends have laying around the house.

AT&T has three simple ways to donate and recycle phones. Even if you're not an AT&T customer, you can still drop off used cell phones and accessories at any of their stores across the U.S. If you can't make it to an AT&T store, just go to www.att.com/recycle and download a free shipping label and mail your phone in for recycling. If you don't have a printer or if you're like Mom and are out of ink, you can request a postage-paid mailing envelope be mailed to you. I told you there's no excuse!

The best part of the AT&T recycling program is that they use funds from recycled cell phone to buy prepaid phone cards for active duty military members through the Cell Phones for Soldiers program. AT&T collects the phones and then sends them to ReCellular, the world's largest cell phone recycler. ReCellular in turn pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each donated phone and the funds are used to buy the phone cards. How cool is that? The Cell Phones for Soldiers program was started by two teenagers and has already distributed more than 75,000 prepaid phone cards to soldiers overseas.

Sprint is the only major U.S. wireless carrier to offer in-store financial incentives to consumers for recycling their eligible devices regardless of make, manufacturer or carrier. Their buyback program offers an instant account credit to current and new customers who turn in up to three eligible devices per active line of service each year. To participate in this program without going to a retail store, log on to www.sprint.com/recycle.

Sprint's Project Connect program accepts all wireless phones, batteries, and accessories regardless of carrier or condition. This program is available to everyone and free postage-paid envelopes are available at any Sprint-owned retail store. You can also print free postage-paid mailing labels at www.sprint.com/recycle. All the proceeds collected help keep kids safer online through Sprint's 4NetSafetySM program. Charitable partners include the National Center for Missign & Exploited Children, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and the NEA Health Information Network.

ReCellular also works with other charities beside Cell Phones for Soldiers. Check out their recycling partners here.

CollectiveGood is similar to ReCellular and offers donations to several organizations in exchange for your cell phone.

ECO-CELL is yet another company that accepts used cell phones. They partner exclusively with conservation organizations and some of the workable phones are donated to hospitals in the Louisville Metro area so patients can make emergency calls.

You can always get some money for your old cell phone by selling it yourself or sending it to YouRenew. Enter your cell phone model details on their website and get a quote instantly. If your cell phone is a little old and out of date, a quote will be emailed to you. Even if your cell phone isn't worth anything, you can still send you phone to YouRenew and they will recycle it. YouRenew will even pay the postage.

Mom is only on her second cell phone ever so she only has one to recycle. I've lost count how many cell phones Dad has had. He also has piles of chargers and other phone accessories, so he needs to get with the recycling program. I hope you get with the program too because there's no excuse not to.