9/03/2007

Sell your old cell phone

If you just bought an iPhone or you've upgraded to a flashier model, don't toss your old cell phone in the trash just yet. What you don't want -- others do. Several local companies are on a mission to keep cell phones out of landfills where they will disintegrate and the battery and other dangerous substances will be exposed to the soil and groundwater. Some companies collect the phones and sells them to a third party in the United States or overseas to be refurbished. Other phones are recycled for their precious metals, including gold and silver.

Verizon Wireless offers recycling and refurbishing. After discovering that the average amount of time people keep a cell phone is only 18 months before upgrading, the company began a national recycling program in 2001.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Motorola on their e-commerce site has just launched a national trade-up program. They offer value to the consumer for their old phone, if the phone has no trade-up value they will still recycle the phone at no cost to the consumer and provide a discount on the purchase of a new phone. Cool program.