DID YOU EVER WONDER IF THEY REALLY RECYCLE THOSE cellphones that get lost or pitched away?  Well, it turns out that they do.

Most of the phones, usually acquired by wireless vendors who take them as trade-ins, are sent to ReCellular, a cellphone recycling facility in Dexter, Michigan. 

They receive about a 1/2 million phones every month and they sort them out into three groups.  About 60% of them are refurbished and sold again.  Some of the rest are cannibalized for parts, and the rest are sent to Sims Recycling Solutions in Chicago.  They take in about 30,000 lbs. of cellphones every month and run them first through a shredder. 

Then the shards are superheated to dissolve the plastic, leaving the metals to be retrieved.  They will gather about $1 worth of precious metals (gold and silver) from each phone.

If you want to know more, Technology Review has a good photo essay showing the entire process from start to finish.  Just click HERE to read it.  (you need a sharp eye to catch the “next page” link in the lower right, so be alert.)

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