The EPA Launches New Phone Recycling Campaign

An estimated 100 to 130 million mobile phones are no longer in service, and many of them have taken up residence in a dresser drawer or cupboard. If Americans would recycle those 100 million phones, there would be enough energy conserved to power more than 194,000 U.S. households for an entire year.

In order to help this situation, a Spanish language campaign has been introduced to promote mobile phone recycling. The scheme was introduced at the Annual Convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). The scheme will encourage people to recycle using printed public service advertisements and podcasts designed to highlight the social and environmental benefits of recycling used handsets. The Environmental Protection Agency designed the scheme to promote awareness of recycling procedures.

The scheme, called Plug-In To eCycling, is a voluntary partnership between the EPA and electronics retailers, manufacturers, and service providers to promote opportunities for consumers to donate or recycle used electronics.

“EPA is calling on Americans to reuse and recycle old electronics,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “Recycling cell phones helps the environment by saving energy and keeping useable and valuable materials out of landfills.”

Recently, the nation’s leading cell phone manufacturers, service providers, and retailers have stepped up to provide convenient mobile phone recycling services. To date AT&T Wireless, Motorola, Office Depot, Nokia, Best Buy, LG Electronics, Sprint, Staples, Palm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless have become participants in the Plug-In To eCycling program.

Last year alone retailers and manufacturers voluntarily recycled more than 47 million pounds of electronics, with the most common items being computers and televisions.

For more information, go to: epa.gov