The Dangers of Disposing Old Cell Phones

From the Environmental Protection Agency:
With only 10 percent of unwanted cell phones being recycled in 2007, EPA is encouraging consumers to increase the nation’s cell phone recycling rate. Recycling or reusing cell phones helps the environment by saving energy and keeping reusable materials out of landfills. Cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are made of precious metals, copper, and plastics. Recycling or reusing them not only conserves these materials, it also prevents air and water pollution and reduces greenhouse gas emissions that occur during manufacturing and when extracting and processing virgin materials.

Donating cell phones or PDAs can also have social benefits for communities. In fact, many existing recycling programs donate cell phones that are in good working order to worthy charities, raise funds for charitable organizations, or provide them for discounted sale. (http://www.epa.gov)