How Does Recycling Phones for Cash Work?

How does recycling mobile phones for cash work?

A growing number of people are choosing to recycle their old mobile phones for cash. This is good news for everyone: It puts quick money in people’s pockets, and it keeps unwanted mobile phones from the bottom of UK landfills.

This last point is especially important: A large percentage of the waste that ends up at landfills today is made up of old electronic items. This includes computer monitors that no longer work or television sets that are on the fritz. Old computers, video game systems and, of course, mobile phones frequently end up at landfills.

Once there, these materials often leak chemicals such as lead, cadmium and beryllium into the soil. It’s not a good situation, and is far from a “green” one.

That’s where recycling programs come in. Many manufacturers will take back the now-unwanted electronic equipment they’ve sold. Many municipalities offer electronics recycling days.

And when it comes to mobile phones, consumers can choose from a small army of private companies that are willing to send cash for old mobiles.

These companies are quite easy to find. Consumers merely have to run a quick Internet search for “mobile phone recycling” to turn up a seemingly endless stream of Web sites such as EarthMobile.com, Envirofone.com and MobilePhoneXchange.com. All of these sites, and many, many more, are devoted to recycling old mobile phones for cash.

Many consumers, though, still have questions about how these services work. Here are some detailed answers:

First, consumers need to log onto the Web site of the phone recycling company with which they want to work. They then scroll down a list of mobile phone models to find the one they want to recycle. Or, if it’s easier, they can simply enter their mobile phone’s name to find their model.

When they find their model, they’ll see what the private recycler is willing to pay. These rates may vary widely among recyclers. For an idea, though, of how much consumers might receive for a used mobile, though, consider that Envirofone.com is currently offering the owners of old Nokia 6700 Classics slightly more than 106 pounds. However, the owners of unwanted Nokia 6670s are only being offered about 17 pounds. So, yes, the amount of money consumers receive for recycling their mobile phones depends heavily on the make and model.

In fact, there are many old mobile phones that the private recycling companies won’t offer any money for. For instance, on Envirofone, the owners of many Ericsson models were not able to receive any money for their old mobile phones.

Once consumers accept an offer, many private recycling companies will then send them a padded envelope. Consumers simply put their old mobile phones in these pre-addressed envelopes and send them off. The recycling companies than promise to send the agreed-upon payment within seven business days.

And that’s it. It’s such a simple process it’s amazing that more consumers don’t take advantage of it. Especially when they have the chance to earn 100 pounds or more just for sending something through the mail.

The sad truth, though, is that the vast majority of UK residents still don’t know they can recycle their old mobile phones. This is true despite the efforts of environmental activists and the media to promote the word about mobile phone recycling.

The good news, though, is that the number of private companies willing to recycle old mobile phones for cash isn’t shrinking any time soon. If anything, this number is growing. There’s good reason for this: The typical mobile phone owner usually holds onto his or her current mobile phone for just two years before upgrading to a new version. This means that there’s always business for those companies willing to send cash for old mobile phones.