Why Recycle Phones for Cash

Why are so many companies recycling mobile phones for money?

If you surf the Internet looking for companies that recycle mobile phones for money, you might be surprised by how many online retailers are now offering this service. But there are two good reasons why so many companies have entered the mobile phone recycling business: First, it's good for the environment. And second, the potential for profit in this business is immense.

Look at the potential profits first: Some studies suggest that there are some 90 million unwanted mobile phones now cluttering up the desktops and filling the glove compartments of UK residents. That's a lot of old mobile phones.

Unfortunately, most of these will eventually end up in the trash, and then at the bottom of a landfill somewhere. But a growing number of mobile phone owners are realizing that they can actually make quick cash by recycling their mobile phones.

That's because there are a large number of companies already serving the UK market that will take unwanted mobile phones and send their owners cash for their efforts.

These companies are now doing business online at Web sites such as Envirofone.com, Money4YourMobile.com and SellOldMobile.com. They all operate under the same principle: Mobile phone owners log onto the sites, type in some basic information about their mobile phones and wait for an offer. When they get an offer they like, they then mail their unwanted mobile phone to the recycling company.

The recycling company then completes the circle by sending money back to the consumer. It's an easy, quick way for consumers to gain a bit of cash.

And for the companies that specialize in this field, mobile phone recycling stands to be an ever-growing business. Mobile phone manufacturers are constantly introducing new models. This encourages mobile phone users to discard their current models so that they can upgrade these new-and-improved versions. This means that there will constantly be a supply of old, unwanted mobile phones in the UK that need to be recycled.

Mobile phones are actually highly recyclable. In fact, about 80 percent of the parts of most mobile phones can be recycled. That's quite a high percentage.

It's unfortunate, then, that a recent study by mobile phone maker Nokia found that only 3 percent of mobile phones are ever recycled. The same study found that an amazing total of 75 percent of mobile phone owners do not know how to recycle their old mobile phones.

This leads to the second reason why there are so many companies out there dedicated to recycling mobile phones: It's good for the environment. When people toss their old mobile phones rather than recycle them, these phones inevitably end up in a landfill. The country's landfills are already tight on space. As more old electronics, including mobile phones, end up in them, landfill space only continues to disappear.

The private phone recycling companies, then, are helping the environment by encouraging consumers to sell their old mobile phones for cash. Yes, the private companies want to make their profits, too, but it's hard to deny that the service they offer is making a positive impact on the health of the environment. If they encourage more consumers to recycle their old mobile phones, they're doing a bit to keep these phones from entering the waste stream.

Consumers today talk a lot about the importance of being green; and environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, this is all talk unless consumers are willing to actually act on their beliefs. And one easy, and financially productive way for them to do this, is to recycle their old mobile phones for cash. It's a simple and easy way to reduce the pressure consumers so often place on landfills.