By Paulie Anthony, e-Cycle Each year, more than 140 million cell phones are retired in the U.S. alone. Surprisingly, only 10% of these phones are recycled. Only 10%! What happens to the rest? Many are crammed into desk drawers, used as toys for our kids, stored in closets or simply thrown away. Yet 50% of these cell phones retain financial value and can be sold for reuse by others.

 

Protect your environment

Cell phones contain toxic materials such as lead, mercury, flame retardants and arsenic. If they are not properly disposed, they will pollute groundwater, damage the environment, damage our bodies and endanger our communities. In fact, smartphones and cell phones, along with other electronic waste, comprise 70% of toxic waste in landfills. According to the EPA, there are enough toxins in one cell phone to pollute 40,000 gallons of water. Now multiply that by a 140 million each year. With mobile phone waste presenting a growing problem, governments and organizations must create policies that specifically address cell phone recycling. This is a vital sustainability concern.

Protect your information

Today’s smartphones are filled with confidential personal and professional information. Passwords, settings, emails, photos, text messages and contacts are all stored on the device and can present a potential security risk if not properly removed. Data security is a rapidly growing concern and critical issue for businesses and organizations, as well as individuals. However, many organizations do little to protect themselves from these threats — even when they may have hundreds or thousands of devices at large. Both businesses and individuals must choose a recycling partner that will ensure their private data is completely erased and does not end up in the wrong hands.

e-Cycle’s mission: Recycle. Recover. Protect.

Since 2005, e-Cycle has recycled or resold and protected more than 4 million cell phones for nearly 7,000 businesses and organizations throughout the U.S., keeping hundreds of thousands of pounds of electronic waste out of landfills. An expert data security team ensures all confidential data is completely erased on any phone that is resold and a quality assurance team double checks every device to make certain the data-scrubbing process is comprehensive. Any cell phone that can no longer be used is shredded and recycled in an EPA-registered facility. e-Cycle’s high-security facility and processes ensures that not one mobile phone escapes our facility.

iPhone Buyback and Recycling

Reports suggest that Apple could sell 50 million iPhones in 2011 and more than 80 million in 2012. Considering many iPhone users upgrade their devices every year, more than 40 million iPhones may be discarded within the next two years. To confront this issue, e-Cycle has launched a tool where individuals can quickly and easily sell iPhones and iPads online. Each iPhone e-Cycle receives goes through the same rigorous data-deletion process that is offered to businesses. Protect your environment, protect your information and protect your pocketbook. Learn more about e-Cycle at e-Cycle.com. Paulie Anthony is the Director of Marketing at e-Cycle LLC. Located in Hilliard, OH, e-Cycle is one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. and a global leader in corporate wireless cell phone buyback, data erasing and recycling. Anthony is also the co-owner of O media group, an out-of-home media-buying company located in Columbus, OH.