The Living Desert - Donate Cell Phones

Donate Cell Phones

By donating your old phones to
The Living Desert, through our collection points, you are:

Helping the environment by recycling hazardous waste. Cell phones contain a number of hazardous substances that can seriously impact the environment. Donate your cell phone to The Living Desert and the Zoo will have it recycled to ensure that these cell phones and their accessories will be reused or properly recycled
Providing funds that will benefit conservation programs at
The Living Desert. The Living Desert will receive up to $12 for each working digital cell phone
Helping Wildlife in the Congo. Columbite-tantalite, or Coltan for short, is a dull metallic ore found in major quantities in the eastern areas of the Congo. It is used in cell phones, laptops, pagers and other electronic devices. Coltan mining is occurring illegally in protected lands all across the Congo endangering wildlife. In order to mine the Coltan, rebels have overrun Congo's national parks and are hunting the park's endangered elephants and gorillas for food. Within the last five years, there has been a 90% decline in the gorilla population alone. Reducing the demand for Coltan (by recycling) will help to save these animals and their habitat

Questions about the program
Why recycle phones?
What happens to the phones?
Who benefits?
Which phones are accepted?

Donation locations
The Living Desert
Member Services Window
47-900 Portola Avenue
Palm Desert, CA 92260
Click here for directions

Environmental impact
Cell phones (and other electronic devices) are an especially problematic component of the waste stream because they contain a large number of hazardous substances, which can pollute the air when burned in incinerators and leach into soil and drinking water when buried in landfills. Many of these toxic substances — including antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc — belong to a class of chemicals known as persistent toxins, which linger in the environment for long periods without breaking down. Some of them — including the metals lead and cadmium — also tend to accumulate in the tissues of plants and animals, building up in the food chain to dangerous levels even when released in very small quantities.

These persistent, bioaccumulative toxins, or PBTS, have been associated with cancer and a range of reproductive, neurological, and developmental disorders. They pose a particular threat to childreen, whose developing systems are especially vulnerable to toxic assault. Most of the persistent toxins and PBTs contained in cell phones are in the printed wiring board and liquid-crystal display.

The PBT of greatest concern in cell phones is lead, a heavy metal recognized as a problem material throughout the world. Lead is a suspected carcinogen, has adverse effects on the central nervous system, immune system, and kidneys, and has been linked to developmental abnormalities.

Another hazardous constituent of cell phones is brominated flame-retardants, which are added to plastics to reduce the risk of fire. They are used primarily in the phones’ printed wiring boards, cables, and plastic housings.

Research indicates that some brominated flame-retardants can be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, while the impacts of others are still being evaluated. Two categories of flame-retardant — polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) — have been associated with cancer and disruption of the immune and endocrine systems. In addition, some of these substances can form dioxins and furans, a group of highly toxic and persistent by-products of combustion, when products that contain them are incinerated.

The rechargeable batteries that power cell phones also contain a number of highly toxic substances. Through the mid-1990s, the most commonly used power source in cell phones was nickel-cadmium batteries (Ni-Cds). Cadmium is a PBT and probable human carcinogen that can cause lung, liver, and kidney damage and is toxic to wildlife. Lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride batteries are increasingly replacing Ni-Cds in cell phones, but these contain cobalt, zinc, and copper — all heavy metals that can be toxic to plants, wildlife, and human beings.

A recent EPA sponsored study estimates that by 2006 there will be more than 700 million retired cell phones in the United States representing 250,000 tons of toxic materials.

Through reuse and proper recycling, The Living Desert via Eco-Cell¹s program can reduce the quantity of cell phones that end up in our land fills or our drawers.

Teachers! Here’s an opportunity to teach your students about recycling. Click here to download Teacher's Lesson Plans.