How to Recycle or Repurpose Your Old Cellphone
By Chris Baskind in Recycling
Don’t put your worn out cellphone phone in the trash — it’s probably filled with all sorts of toxic nasties. Here’s how to hang up on Old Faithful the right way.
Cellphones are as much a fashion accessory these days as shoes or jewelry. That — and the planned obsolescence of changing technology — means you’ll probably change your phone every 18 months to two years. It all translates to a lot of potentially toxic e-waste.
PVC, lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and brominated flame retardants: consumer electronics can be a witches brew of things you don’t want leaching out of landfills and into your drinking water. Rather than thoughtlessly dropping that old phone into a nearby dumpster or hiding it in a desk drawer, recycle or repurpose it!
Recycle
Many large electronic stores, including Radio Shack, Staples, and Best Buy, feature handy drop boxes of unwanted phones and batteries. It’s quite possible your cellphone vendor offers a take-back program. call2recycle maintains a national database of drop-off centers here.
Repurpose
Working or repairable cellphones can be a real lifeline for seniors and women’s shelters. These can be as close as a quick call to organizations listed in your local phone directory. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence accepts phones by mail — as does the Seniors assistance group Phones for Life. You’ll find a long list of organizations want to put your old phone to good use at the Electronic Industries Alliance’s Consumer Education Initiative.
Finally, it’s possible your local community sponsors electronic waste disposal and recycling. Check the government pages in your phone directory.
Respect your own privacy
Cellphones have largely replaced personal digital assistants (PDAs). That makes phones a rich target for unscrupulous identity thieves. Before surrendering a phone for recycling or reuse, delete all of your personal data and make sure it can’t be used to access your wireless account. Remember: a cellphone can hold data indefinitely, even when the battery is dead.
Find out how to zero-out your particular cellphone model at WirelessRecycling.com.
PDF9 Responses to “How to Recycle or Repurpose Your Old Cellphone”
Leave a Reply
Additional comments powered by BackType
I have given our old cell phones to the local womens shelter. It is a great cause and a great way to recycle.
That's a wonderful way to re-purpose a cellphone. There's need — and they will certainly be appreciated. Good choice.
Fantastic article. Cell phones really are a lifeline for women living in dangerous environments. Check with local agencies to see if they accept them. Most agencies will accept cell phones in Any condition — they are totally refurbished so that the individual can contact 911 in the event that their abuser shows up.
On recycling, Nokia have an international “takeback” program: http://www.nokia.com/A4803496
Many mobile operators also run recycling programs, though this varies by region.
Some places offer money for your old cell phones… I listed some on http://www.ecojoes.com/recycle-your-cell-phone-fo...
It'd be GREAT if everyone recycled their old phones instead of just throwing them away. Hopefully we are moving toward that.
Here in New Jersey, I always drop my old phone hardware and chargers at a local Verizon store.
Welcome to Lighter Footstep, Roland! And the other new faces in this comment thread, too.
Just printed the label to send my cell phone in for repurposing. Thanks for supplying the button to find a place so easily. Rosanne