The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has advised that nearly 35,000 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered by recycling one million mobile devices. They have also updated on their website that by recycling one million laptops we can save the equivalent electricity used by 3,500 homes in the U.S. every year.

Whoa! Now, that's something we should definitely think about!

On this Earth Day, take a pledge and recycle your old electronic goods like smartphones, laptops, and batteries, and save the planet from dumping unimaginable pounds of wastes and polluting it.

Surprisingly, you don't have to do much to recycle your old smartphone. Visit a local company outlet near you and drop off your device. It's as simple.

However, there are a few things to keep in mind before giving away your device for recycling.

Do not forget to wipe out your personal information from your devices. Factory Reset is by far the easiest and the best way to achieve this. It is also advisable to remove batteries from products, as the recycling process is different between them.

So, how to approach for recycling?

Well, if you are an Apple product user, kudos! The company buys back their old products from customers and recycles them. Specific Apple products like iPad 2, iPhone 4, Macs from 2007 or newer are eligible for gift cards, wherein you can get up-to 10 per cent off on purchasing a new Apple device on the company website.

On a thoughtful note, Apple uses a robot called Liam to extract different components including cobalt and lithium from batteries, gold and copper from the camera, and silver and platinum from the main logic board.

Apart from Apple, many other smartphone manufacturers like Samsung and LG and carriers like Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile also have different programs to recycle the old products. As mentioned above, just drop off your old device at a local store near you.

[Image Credit: cultofmac.com]

Tags : e-waste recycling, old smartphones