Why Recycle

We depend on the earth to provide us with life sustaining resources, but the improper disposal of waste is creating complex environmental problems. E-waste in particular is quickly becoming one of the most prolific polluters in today's disposable society. Our efforts will hopefully stem the tide of cell phones entering the waste stream - your efforts can help.

Properly disposing of old cell phones is beneficial in several ways; they can be reconditioned to extend their useful life; donated to shelters and law enforcement agencies to provide emergency communications; or recycled to extract reusable substances. All of these measures help keep hazardous wastes and toxic chemicals out of landfills and incinerators where they potentially reduce air quality and leach harmful chemicals into ground water.

An estimated 130 million, or roughly 65,000 tons, of cell phones are retired every year in the US. An estimated 500 million cell phones are gathering dust right now. At the current cell phone recycling rate, less than 1 percent of those phones will end up being recycled.

What Recycling Cell Phones Can Do:

• Keep harmful chemicals from reaching groundwater and polluting the air
• Reduce the amount of resources extracted from the earth
• Help ensure a healthy environment for future generations
• Prolong the life of a cell phone
• Introduce cell phones into new markets with limited communication capability

We have done our part to provide a proper way to dispose of these phones, and now it's up to you to do your part and start recycling - please donate your cell phone to the organization of your choice.