With increasing awareness of environmental issues more and more people are choosing to recycle old cell phones. There are many organisations who offer recycling services and most will give you a cash sum in return for your old cell. Other charitable organisations will treat your cell as a donation, therefore you will more than likely not receive any money in return.
Cell phone users on average replace their handset every 12-18 months and there are a staggering 1.25 billion cell phone users world wide, 250 million of these are estimated to live in the US alone. However, despite the increasing amount of organisations offering to recycle old cell phones it is estimated that only around 5% of old cells currently do get recycled meaning that many redundant handsets could be lying around in people's houses going to waste or may have been thrown away completely.
If we recycle old cells phones they can be put to good use in a number of ways. As mentioned above, they can be donated to charities, for example to victims of domestic violence, where the cell is a vital lifeline for the individual concerned, or they can be refurbished and sent abroad to developing countries in Eastern Europe or Africa for example. The cell can be used for spare parts or materials. A number of valuable materials are used in the manufacture of cell phones, therefore if these materials are carefully removed they can be used again reducing the need to source more of it. This is perhaps why the cost of more hi-tech handsets has come down in recent years. Perhaps a good enough incentive alone to recycle old cell phones?So by choosing to recycle old cell phones you are not only helping the environment but you may also get some money back in return. When I upgraded my phone I checked around the internet for places to sell my old one as well as another old cell I found at the back of a drawer at home. I used a sell my cell comparison site as it was really easy to use and I was able to see who was going to pay me the most without having to spend time going to lots of different websites.