Almost all consumer electronics contain toxic materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic and a broad variety of other materials that pose a threat to the environment and health. Now multiple these hazards by 3 billion! Concerned now?
Have you often thought about recycling your cell phone or old laptop computer, but simply decided it was too difficult to figure out how? You’re not alone.
A consumer survey recently conducted by Nokia in the U.S. reported that, out of 6,500 households, only 3 percent had recycled a handset. That means about 97% of us are leaving old phones tucked in drawers or even worse, simply tossing them in the trash. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that consumers generated 2 million tons of e-waste in 2005 and only 350,000 tons of it was recycled.
A new eco-ATM that allows kiosk recycling of electronics at your local supermarket could be the best thing invented since…. well… the bank ATM. It's easy to use, conveniently located and gives you cash back for the value of the components of your e-waste. This concept of ecoATM aims to encourage electronics recycling through automated machines similar to vending machines. To use the kiosk, simply plug in your phone with the provided cable. The eco-ATM calculates its value by scanning the content of the phone and inspecting the outside appearance with a built-in camera. If your old cell phone can be re-sold on the secondary market, the eco-ATM will pay you right then and there when you recycle your cell phone at the kiosk. If you are worried about your personal data, then there is no need to. The eco-ATM will erase all data on the phone.
You could receive the value of your phone either in the form of cash or coupons which can be redeemed. If you’d rather donate the value to a charity, you can do that too. The eco-ATM kiosks that have been installed are already proving quite popular. In fact, at a trial location in Nebraska, people were waiting in line for up