Green Party U.S. – Green Technology, Recycling & Alternative Energy News & Information
Recycling

A new way to recycle used gadgets

October 9, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

Apple introduced its newest iPhone 5 recently.  Many will drop their current iPhone and buy an improved iPhone 5.  Only about 20 percent of used gadgets are recycled in the U.S.  With more new gadgets on the market and many more are being released every month, there are some entrepreneurs who are concentrating on recycling used phones, MP3 players, and tablets.

The San Diego based EcoATM operates 150 kiosks in ten U.S. states that collect more than 4,000 models of used phones, MP3 players and tablets and pay out substantial price for those devices all in a kiosk.  It will pay $175 for slightly damaged iPhone 4 or 4S and $60 for a heavily used Samsung Galaxy S.  The company secured $31 million in venture capital and a $650,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and spent more than two years developing the idea.  The company kiosks contain theft prevention methods such as requiring driver’s license number and thumb print to prevent knockoffs.  So far they have collected 500,000 units and expect to collect 20 million units by 2014.  Some estimate that there will be 530 million deactivated devices by 2015.  They EcoATM refurbishes collected items and sell to emerging markets as well as insurance companies.

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