Ever wonder what to do with your old cell phone? Is it sitting in your kitchen drawer right now because you don’t want it to end up in the land fill, but you have no idea what else to do with it?
You’re not alone. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an estimated 90 percent of unwanted cell phones went unrecycled in 2007. Further, the EPA believes that if Americans recycled the 100 million cell phones that are no longer being used, enough energy would be saved to power more than 18,500 homes for a year.
There is a chance next week to turn things around. On April 2, the EPA announced National Cell Phone Recycling Week for April 6 – April 12th as part of its Plug-In To eCycling program. As part of this program, the federal agency works with cell phone manufacturers, retailers and service providers on increasing national awareness about the importance of cell phone recycling.
Cell phones and other wireless devices are made of precious metals, copper and plastics. Recycling or reusing cell phones helps the environment by saving energy, keeps reusable materials out of landfills and reduces air and water pollution.
In addition, the EPA stated, recycling helps to lower greenhouse gas emissions that occur during manufacturing and when extracting and processing virgin materials used in production.
In 2007, cell phone makers and sellers recycled more than 47 million pounds of electronics, mostly computers and televisions, as part of the EPA’s program.
The program also gives people the chance to donate working electronic devices to worthy charities or provide them for discounted sale.
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