Apple Is the Boost Smartphone Recycling Needs

by Michelle Maisto

Bloomberg reported June 7 that Apple plans to hire Brightstar to run a device buyback program. Apple already pays for some older Apple devices and will accept or recycle a variety of products at no cost to consumers.

The Apple site, like many new buyback Websites, allows users to put in some details about a product and receive a quote. The Brightstar effort will instead focus on getting iPhone users to upgrade to new models, so that Apple can refurbish and resell the older models in emerging markets.

“We are delighted that Apple is getting into the market, as we believe this will help spread needed awareness that old gadgets have real value,” said Colin White, managing director of SellCell, a company that acts as a sort of Priceline.com for selling used electronics.

While sites like eleGreen and Gazelle offer quotes for used devices, SellCell gathers quotes from various purchasers, making it quicker for consumers to find the highest-paying offer.

eleGreen is a device buyback company that would like to focus on major corporations and government offices that are updating fleets of devices but might be hesitant to recycle devices for fear of a data breach. It recently bought back 3,000 phones from a large business customer.

Here, another shot of eleGreen’s buyback efforts. A study from SellCell found that nearly 20 percent of people said they were too lazy to recycle their devices; 44 percent said they didn’t know how to recycle or sell it; and 19 percent said they didn’t know how to wipe data from their phones in order to sell them.

Before paying for old devices came into vogue, Nokia was emphasizing the environmental importance of recycling them. The metals and elements old phones contain are said to be “300 times richer” than the materials being extracted today. If everyone recycled one phone, says Nokia, it could prevent 370,000 tons of raw materials from being mined.

… the impact of leaving those 370,000 tons of materials in place, says Nokia, would have the equivalent impact of taking 6 million cars off the road for a year. Nokia offers free Nokia Suite software, which helps people organize, store and share the files on their phones, so they can feel good about waving good-bye to them.

Sprint says it’s the only carrier that sets specific goals for device recycling. By 2017, it has pledged to collect back 90 percent of what it sells each year. It offers up to a $300 credit toward a new device purchase, for an “eligible” old device from any carrier.

Sprint works closely with device manufacturers to ensure “thorough removal of data” including call history, email, Short Message Service (SMS) files and Web-history browsing. Sprint also offers the option of enabling customers to donate the proceeds from equipment sales to Project Connect, a fund that promotes free Internet safety resources for kids.