Cell phones are quickly becoming an environmental problem, old and broken phones are discarded and thrown away that contain very hazardous materials that could harm our health and even the environment. In line with this there has been a new and rising business today. Buying and selling of old and damaged cell phones. A trend continues today as the average U.S. consumer replaces their cell phone every 18 months. Americans retire an estimated 130 million cell phones each year, only a fraction of which are reused or recycled. which means there is an accumulation of unused and old cell phones in garbage dump sites and land fills.

Awareness to the hazardous contents of these cell phones is now very widespread that is why conservation of the environment and the recycling of these waste products are now on the rise. Businesses around these products are also on the rise, as many companies today are willing to buy your old cell phones, even those that are already damaged and broken. They clear up all the info in your cell phones and fix it all up then repackage and sell them again. Cell phones that were unable to be refurbished are dismantled and recycled for some metals that are found in them namely, Gold and Silver from circuit boards, copper wiring from phone chargers, nickel, iron, cadmium and lead from battery packs and plastics form cases and phone accessories.

You too can start out and make money from this growing industry. Start out with an old or used cell phone collection drive. Or buy them from your neighbors and friends for a cheap price and sell them to the companies that recycle them. Many websites are now popping up to buy your cell phones, use these programs to earn extra money. Many of these programs even send out free shipping envelopes so you could send them your cell phones at absolutely free of charge. This is the type of business that can be both profitable and good for the environment.

Another option is to invest in various recycling bins that can be placed at various locations across your town or city. Some locations would be in malls, colleges and universities. Downtown locations close to a large population of office workers could also be a prime location for cell phone recycling bins. Once these bins are in place a marketing campaign educating people about the benefits of recycling their cell phones would help get people using them. Partnering with a charity could also help attract users, you could give a percentages of the profits to the charity.