Spotlight: New ATM Takes In Your Old Phone, Gives Back Cash or Store Credit

Thanks to the US National Science Foundation, people who like to take some time and think about environmental protection can get rid of their old phones or similar gadgets in an environmentally-friendly manner, not to mention the fact that they will get to experiment with one of the latest developments in the recycling industry.

Thus, a so-called EcoATM allows people to “feed” old gadgets and gizmos into it, and later on assess the items' market value and offers the former owners either cash, or store credit.

As the people in charge of this initiative explain, the goal is to help promote recycling in the electronics industry, seeing how most of the phones and tables usually discarded by some people without any second thoughts can easily serve other individuals.

Moreover, some of the materials they contain can be re-used when manufacturing new electronics.

It is expected that 300 such EcoATMs will be made available to the general public in various parts of the US by the end of 2012.