The Burlington Board of Health is getting into cell phone recycling. The Board has announced that it will be partnering with recycling company MassRecycle in a bid to encourage residents to recycle their old cell phones rather than simply throw them away and have them end up becoming landfill. People can bring their used cell phones and drop them off at the Health Office at Room 227 of 61 Center Street between nine o’clock in the morning and four o’clock in the afternoon. There are no fees for the service, and all old cell phones will be accepted, regardless of how old they are or what condition they may be in. All old cell phones dropped off at the Health Office will then be sent on to Charitable Recycling in Michigan, while MassRecycle will receive a donation for every old cell phone that gets sent on.
Jessica Wozniak, the executive director of MassRecycle, says that all old cell phones can be recycled and some even refurbished and sent to those unable to afford to buy new ones. “Every day, thousands upon thousands of worthless cell phones are thoughtlessly discarded in the US,” she notes. According to Charitable Recycling, the figure on an annual basis is around a hundred and fifty million used cell phones discarded, weighing over seventy five thousand tons. “We’re very excited about this opportunity,” Wozniak says. “It not only greatly benefits MassRecycle and Burlington but assists in preserving the environment and bringing communications to those who could otherwise not afford it.”