RECYLING: Cellphones - province wide drop off locations

Recycling your old cellphone just got a lot easier.

Government and industry announced Tuesday the launch of a new Recycle My Cell website that will direct consumers to locations where they can drop off their old cellphones for recycling.

Visit RecycleMyCell.ca, type in your postal code, and you'll receive information on several sites in your area that will accept old cell phones, pagers, smartphones, wireless personal digital assistants, batteries, external aircards, headsets and chargers at no cost, regardless of brand or condition.

Province-wide, there are 552 drop-off locations. Devices can also be mailed at no cost, using a prepaid shipping label downloaded from the web site.

The program, an initiative of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, asks consumers to ensure all cellphone accounts have been fully paid and service deactivated, and that any personal information is erased, including text messages, contacts and personal files.

All four recyclers involved in the program are ISO 14001:2004 certified or certified under Electronic Product Stewardship Canada's recycling vendor qualification program, but are located in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Michigan -- which adds to the environmental footprint of the program.

David Lawes, head of industry product stewardship programs for the ministry of environment, hopes to see the industry reach agreement with a B.C. recycler as the program evolves.

"Step one is getting these things out of consumers' garages and shoeboxes," said Lawes, noting there are also federal regulations governing the export of such products. "As the program continues to improve, we'll be asking more questions around the environmental benefits [of shipping out of province]."

Telus' Shawn Hall said to his knowledge there are no B.C. facilities currently certified and audited for cellphone recycling, but that his company would consider using them as they become available.

"We'd like to keep it as local as possible," he said. "As the recycling program becomes larger it can make that work, once you've got those economies of scale."

E-Cycle Solutions Inc. is located in Environment Minister Barry Penner's Chilliwack riding and is already certified by the Electronics Stewardship Association of B.C. for recycling electronic waste such as computers but does not currently handle cellphones. The company could not immediately comment on whether that might change in light of the new cellphone recycling program.

Mairi Welman of the Recycling Council of B.C. said her organization is supportive of the program, noting the potential for avoiding millions of cellphones ending up in landfills.

"They're reliable industry partners that are involved in this thing," she said of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. "These guys aren't shady operators."

More than 95 per cent of the materials in an average mobile device are recyclable, the association says.

("Industry launches new program for recycling electronic devices" prepared by Larry Pynn/Vancouver Sun)