Recycle Mobile Phones for Cash

Many people still do not know that they can not only recycle old mobile phones, but generate a little cash whilst they are at it! Aside from making money from your old phone there are some other good reasons why you should do it.

Most probably it will go to a land fill site. If the phone is working, this is criminal. I always hate to see perfectly good items thrown away like this. It saddens me to see all the perfectly usable cathode ray TV’s that get scrapped, despite being in perfect working order, just so people can get a more modern LCD screen. Fortuanately, there is no need to be so wasteful with a working mobile phone!

Even if the mobile phone is working you should not send it to landfill as there are some pretty nasty chemicals in the circuit boards and battery. Mobile phones, like all other electrical waste need to be recycled properly.

In the US there are some pretty shocking statistics on this, stating that every year 37 million cell phones fall into dis-use, and up to 10 million go to landfill, whilst only 9.4% are recycled!

So, if you fail to recycle your old phone, you are throwing away something that someone else may find useful, and putting some pretty nasty chemicals into the ground.

Simply sell or give your old mobile phone to a recycler for cash. There are several websites you can go to which will give you cash for mobile phones. The amount you get will depend on the model, condition and age of the phone. In some cases having the original packaging may add a little value, but this only really applies the more modern high end handsets.

The thing to remember is that all these phones have a value, almost all the recyclers will give you something for these handsets.

Many people disgard their old mobile phones thinking that because they are obsolete they have no value. The problem with that line of thought is that just because they are obsolete in your part of the world does not mean there is not a use for them elsewhere, i.e. the developing world.

I mentioned the waste involved with old cathode ray televisions being scrapped earlier, well, the key difference between mobile phones and old televisions is that mobile phones are very easy to ship abroad to emerging markets, whilst televisions are very difficult to ship.

So, companies that offer you cash for your mobile phones are often shipping the phones out of the country for sale elsewhere in the world, where the handsets in question still have some value.

Furthermore, in some of these countries parts will be recovered and used for repairs on other phones, i.e. the phones may be used as “spares or repairs”.

Interestingly I know someone who wanted the screen of their mobile phone replacing recently and was told by the store owner that it was not worth the bother and that he should just throw it away. On a visit to Morocco (his country of origin) he had the same phone repaired for less than a dollar. In these countries, there is not only the demand for cell phones, but the skills, desire and will to repair them for continued use.

I remember when it was possible to get electrical repairs like that done in this country, now how many of those businesses remain? Not many, nine times out of ten we just throw items away and replace them, often for minor faults.

Anyway, back to recycling phones… what all this means is that by selling your old mobile phone for cash you can actually prevent the manufacture of a new, replacement handset being made for an emerging market.

Even if your phone was trampled by an elephant, it still has value. Circuit boards contain precious metals such as gold and silver which is recovered, along with other re-usable components. These are stripped out before the remenants are disposed of as safely as possible.

There is over 15 times more gold in old mobile phones than there is in most mined gold ore, think about that!

Firstly, if your phone is usable, see if a friend needs it. I personally give most of my old mobile phones away to other people (my family mostly) that are on pre-paid / pay as you go tariffs which do not give them a new phone every year.

If you decide to sell your phone for cash to a recycling company, there are lots of internet sites which will give you a price online. Then you complete the transaction online, print out your label and shipping note and send your phone off in the post. Once the recycler has your handset, and has verified it is in the condition you promised, your cash will be sent back to you, usually by direct money transfer.

Alternatively, you could just take your old phone to a local charity shop. This will save you the time and effort of packaging it up yourself, and the money they generate from the subsequent sale of your handset will go to a good cause.

In fact, many commercial recycling companies will allow you to donate your fee to charity also. There are a lot of “charitable options” associated with mobile phone recycling.

There really is no excuse for letting your old mobile phone go to waste!