Old the Phone

Your options for recycling computer equipment have increased over the past couple of years. One piece of hardware that tends to slip through the cracks, though, is your old cell phone. Cell phones and their batteries contain hazardous materials and shouldn't be disposed of with regular trash. Fortunately, there are now a variety of options for taking care of retired mobiles.

Entrepreneurs living in California have a very straightforward option: A recent law mandates that cell phone retailers must provide free handset recycling--you can drop off your used phones at your local store. Some national retailers like Verizon Wireless let you drop off your old phones and rechargeable batteries for recycling at any store location across the nation.

There are also charities that accept used phones. Check around your community, or visit websites like Phones4Charity.orgor Shelter Alliance. Shelter Alliance offers free shipping on five or more phones, while Phones4Charity.org covers the shipping on 30 or more. That can be convenient if you're upgrading a host of business phones and need to recycle a large quantity.

This article was originally published in the February 2005 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Old the Phone.