It’s Easy Being Green with Your Old Cell Phone! on Home Services

Jan

It’s Easy Being Green with Your Old Cell Phone!

posted by admin in Home Phone Service

Las Vegas, NV, January 5, 2008 - Worldwide sales of mobile phones surpassed one billion units for the first time last year. 295 million of those phones were sold in the fourth quarter alone, boosted by robust holiday purchases. With all these new phones, the question becomes, what is happening to all the phones that are no longer being used?

As users rapidly upgrade their new phones to capture the latest features or styles, many of the retired cellular phones end up in desk drawers or glove boxes. Over time, there is the potential that these aging units get tossed out and eventually end up in the garbage or landfills. However, used cell phones and wireless products are one of the few consumer electronic products that have an ‘economic life’ after first use and have the highest reuse opportunity of all electronic products - the top priority in any waste diversion, recovery and recycling program!” said Bob Sullivan, CEO of The Wireless Source.

There is a multitude of choices and great uses for your retired phone. Cell phones can be donated to charities. You can pick or designate your charity and download a prepaid shipping label at http://www.charitablerecycling.com. As the recycling partner of T-Mobile USA, Inc. you can also recycle your device at any T-Mobile retail store or go to

http://www.t-mobile.com/handsetrecycling to download a prepaid shipping label. Net proceeds from phones that are recycled via the T-Mobile program benefit after school programs.

Alternatively, you can sell your phone outright to sites like http://www.myboneyard.com or http://www.thewirelesssource.com where you will receive a check or financial reward for the value of your phone. Another option is if you are buying a new phone, you can trade-in your phone with Motorola, http://www.recyclerebates.com.

The Wireless Source supports each of these sites. As one of the largest mobile phone recycling companies in the US, they guarantee that any personal data will be removed from the phone and if the phone is unusable, it will be recycled in an environmentally friendly manner.

Sullivan added,”It doesn’t matter what method you choose, but make sure you recycle your used cell phone. The recovery of each used cell phone for reuse can help save the non-renewable resources needed to mine and process metals, plastics and other raw materials and to manufacture a new phone and preempt the energy consumed by these activities and their contribution to global warming”.

About The Wireless Source

The Wireless Source is a global leader in the collection, processing and reuse of wireless technologies. The company supports recycling and asset recovery services to wireless service provider, retailers, businesses, charities and consumers in secure and environmentally sound manner. The Wireless Source is an ISO14001 registered company.

Mobile Phone Recycling

The estimated 500 million retired handsets in the USA weigh the same as a US Navy Aircraft carrier

Mobile phones returned to The Wireless Source are prepped for reuse. Reusable units have any personal data removed and are tested and/or remanufactured for redistribution. Those phones that cannot be reused are sent to an end-of-life mobile phone smelter, where the device is broken down into various components for full recycling.

Mobile phones contain numerous substances, which need to be disposed of in a safe and efficient manner.

The cadmium is a single battery from an old phone could seriously contaminate 600,000 liters of water, enough to fill a third of an Olympic size swimming pool. Cadmium is being phased out of new batteries, but many other poisonous materials remain.

Lead- which affects the immune, endocrine and central nervous system is used to solder components to the printed wiring boards

It is estimated that there are over 500 million used and out-of-service mobile phones stockpiled in the US with an estimated 130 million being retired each year.