Recycle your mobile phone and make money

Could it be that you are lusting after the latest make of smartphone? Perhaps you intend to treat yourself, or maybe you've been dropping hints to your loved ones about what you would like for your birthday.

If you're lucky and get hold of your heart's desire, then you may be looking to dispose of your old mobile phone. Or perhaps even getting some much needed cash for a well loved but out of date mobile.

It's worth spending a little time doing some research about the process and why you should be doing it.

If your old mobile phone ends up in landfill, it will soon degrade and could release a number of poisons into the soil or even into the water supply. Some of the most toxic products are:

Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs)

BFRs are added to plastics to prevent fire damage. They are found in circuit boards and in a phones plastic casing. They can "bleed" from the discarded plastic and contaminate the environment where they remain extremely persistant. Breast milk samples from North American women contained 40 times the amount of these chemicals than in Swedish women. (Source: www.environmentcalifornia.org) BFRs disrupt thyroid hormone balance and may impair neuro development.

Cadmium

Cadmium is found in nickel-cadmium batteries in older mobile phones and other cordless devices. It is now banned under the RoHS Directive. Long-term exposure to low levels of cadmium in air, food, or water leads to a buildup of cadmium in the kidneys and possible kidney disease. Other long-term effects are fragile bones and damage to the lungs.

Lead

Lead is also now banned from the manufacture of electronic equipment but will be found in phones made before July 2006. It is highly toxic and children are most vulnerable.

Phthalates

These chemicals are used to soften plastics. There has been much controversy and debate about whether the levels ingested by humans come anywhere near the levels that could cause health problems. However, Greenpeace campaigned hard for their removal from childrens' toys.

PVC

Polyvinyl chloride is widely used in products from shower curtains to guttering to furniture... and mobile phones. When it burns, toxic hydrogen chloride gas and dioxins are released.

UK companies

envirofone

SellMyMobile.com

US companies

recellular

gazelle

Some major mobile phone manufacturers are producing products which are free of brominated fire retardants or PVC. Many also try to ensure that production workers are treated fairly and that they have recycling schemes.

Both Greenpeace and The Good Guide rate Nokia as the best in these fields. The top rated green phone at present, according to the Good Guide, is the Nokia C6.