OCT 06

While some cell phone companies are introducing convenient ways for you to recycle your phone once you're done with it, a new start-up is making it just plain simple.  EcoATM will be deploying kiosks at retailers around the country where you can drop off your old phone, have its value assessed and immediately get an in-store trade-up coupon or gift card.

The first of these kiosks has been stationed at the Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha for the last year.  After great success with that one kiosk, the company is going install the e-cycler at wireless and big box stores in San Diego, Washington state and Vermont in the next couple of months.  By the second quarter of next year, the kiosks will be popping up around the country and the machines will soon be able to accept other gadgets like MP3 players, cameras and laptops.

The EcoATMs have cameras that can detect damage to the phone and then come up with its value.  If the phone is worth nothing, you can still choose to have it recycled and receive a free waterproof phone case and, for every phone recycled, the company plants a tree.  The machine will also recycle your used batteries.

The company makes it beneficial to the retailers by installing the machines at no cost and making the payments redeemable in-store, increasing their sales.  It also allows them to apply donations from the machine to their favorite charity.

via CNET

Comments (10)

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written by Jim, October 06, 2009

Love the concept.. my office at work just put out recycle bins for used batteries, which I love. Was on a recent trip to Grand Tetons and pulled over for a photo and saw an old D size battery on the side of the road in a pristine park. The local municipalities make it too inconvenient to recycle things like that. I would shop at a store that had those kiosks.

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written by Tatian Suicide, October 06, 2009

NEAT! I LOVE the concept!

I hope to be seeing them around here..

I always hold on to the dispossibles that cant be thrown in the recylcing or trash. I put em in little baggies and stash them away under the sink.. (batteries, cell phones, ee bulbs)...

anyways, i've got a small collection ;] so this would be very nice!

Also, most ppl say its not "convenient" enough to throw things away properly (which is not an excuse), BUT.. I hope ur ecoATM will help with that ;]

yay green!

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written by computer recycling and disposal, November 23, 2010

In the UK takeback schemes pretty much mean you can dispose of your old mobile anywhere you buy its replacement, but takeback schemes have very low publicity behind them and even then there is no onus on them to pay you any intrinsic value the phone may still have.

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written by I_so_bel, April 07, 2011

Absolutely love the idea. We can use a lot of that here in the Philippines (even the whole Asia too).

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written by data destruction, April 20, 2011

very clever system, I wonder if they hit the UK how popular they would be?

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GREAT IDEA !
written by Environmental Computer Recycling, June 12, 2012

What a fantastic device.
This will no doubt be the next thing stolen by the type of individuals who strip lead from church roofs !

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Nice solution
written by Waste PC recycler, August 12, 2012

I like the idea. The concept's simple and would certainly work in the US, where there's far less media hype surrounding data and identity theft than in the UK. I wonder just how much credit you get for a cell phone through this scheme though and could it be used by people who want to cash in stolen phones quickly?

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COOL!
written by House and Office Clearance, October 19, 2012

In theory this is a good idea, but I am not sure how long they would last on the streets in the UK. Maybe if they were positioned in local supermarkets they would be less prone to theft.

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Ingeneous
written by Computer Recycling Norfolk, January 03, 2013

I like the idea of the Vouchers- a rather symbiotic solution that benefits both the owner of the kiosk and the store it;s installed adjacent to. However, I'm not too sure about recycling laptops. As you said, it uses cameras to check for damage on the cell phone. I can't see how it will be able to check a laptop (particulrarly when the screen is closed). Also, as Stated by Waste PC Recycler, it doesn't appear to check if a phone has been stolen- after all, the only way to do that is to check the IMEI number..

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written by Sell my Laptop (UK), January 22, 2013

This is a neat idea but most people i think will want hard cash rather than vouchers. I disagree with the comment about identity theft I think it is going to be much more of an issue given the amount of information we have on smart phones these days.

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