A cash machine for old phones
A San Diego company that makes self-service kiosks for recycling old cellphones has been expanding this spring to malls in Burbank, Ontario, Brea, Orange and Westminster, among other locales.
About 50 EcoATMs already operate at California malls, including the Glendale Galleria, Westfield Century City and Westside Pavilion. The goal is to make recycling convenient, financially rewarding and immediate, so fewer people throw old cellphones in the garbage, EcoATM Chief Executive Tom Tullie said.
Only 11% of mobile devices are recycled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For every 1 million cellphones that are recycled, 35,274 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered, the EPA said.
To use the EcoATM, consumers place a mobile device in the machine’s door. Cameras take photos of the device from various angles to determine its make and model in a process that takes 20 seconds, Tullie said. In the second phase, a robot inspects the device, produces the appropriate cable and plugs it in to determine its condition and value. To complete the transaction, customers need to provide a driver’s license and phone numbers to verify ownership, after which the EcoATM will spit out cash or issue a credit.
Customers average $80, Tullie said, though higher-value phones, such as the iPhone 4S, might net “in the high 200s.” Customers turning in phones with no value receive no money but do get the satisfaction of diverting material from a landfill.
About 75% of the phones turned in through the EcoATM are refurbished and resold on the wholesale market; the remainder have no market value and are sold for reclamation. EcoATM said companies that buy its recycled phones (for refurbishment or for raw materials) must sign a contract stating they will erase customers’ data, but customers are still advised to erase data before they turn in their phones.