With the launch of Bell & Telus’ new 3G GSM network, many people are wondering if they can use an older Rogers, Fido, or other unlocked GSM phone instead of buying a new one.  The answer is unfortunately not so simple – SOME cell phones will work while others will not and those cell phones need to be recycled here in Canada unless you’re planning on continuing to use Rogers or Fido services.

Both Bell and Telus have provided tools online to tell by IMEI number (a serial number assigned to each GSM phone) whether or not your handset will work on their network.

Click here to check out the Bell GSM compatibility tool.

Click here for the Telus GSM compatibility tool.

If your device will work with their network, you can purchase a SIM card for either Bell or Telus but if not the handset will need to be properly recycled.

If it’s time to recycle your cell phone, CellCycle.ca offers many convenient drop off locations for recycling in Nova Scotia and in Barrie, Ontario or you can take up a collection  and earn cash for your business or any registered Canadian charity by sending 50 handsets at a time to us – we’ll even give you free postage.  Check out our Become a Collector page for more information.

The destruction and desperation we have witnessed in Haiti demands our action and CellCycle.ca is here to do it’s part as well.
If you can’t assist our neighbours in Haiti with a cash donation, why not consider assisting by recycling your old cell phone?
From today until February 28 2010, CellCycle.ca will donate 50% of all proceeds generated to the Canadian Red Cross to assist with their relief efforts.

Please help us by taking up a collection in your area, church, or at your workplace.

If you can collect 50 cell phones or more please contact CellCycle.ca for a pre-paid shipping label valid from anywhere in Canada through Canada Post.

Alternatively, you can also recycle through any one of our collection locations listed below:

Nova Scotia

• Adam’s Transport Limited  5962 Gold River Rd. Chester Basin, Nova Scotia
• A&J Superette  25 Main St. Joggins, Nova Scotia
• Beaver Redemption & Recycling  374B Herring Cove Rd. Armdale, Nova Scotia
• Marc’s Bottle Exchange & Recycling Inc.  23 Bluewater Rd. Bedford, Nova Scotia
• Bill Stewart Metal & Bottle Limited  2636 Westville Rd. New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
• Bird’s Eye View Recycling  110 Pond Rd. Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia
• Bluenose Bottle Exchange  99 Woodlawn Rd. Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
• Burke’s Enviro Depot  Lower Warren St. Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
• Burnside Recycling  66 Simmonds Dr. Burnside, Nova Scotia
• C.N. Orde & Sons Limited  Lequille Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
• Clyde’s Trucking & Recycling  56 Meadow Pond Lane Liverpool, Nova Scotia
• Corkum Bottle Exchange  376 Hwy #324 Lillydale Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
• Durants Recycling  3306 Long Hill Rd. Parrsborough, Nova Scotia
• E.T. Bottle Exchange  12 Rosedale dr. Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
• Eastern Shore Cartage  23557 Hwy #7 Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia
• Elmsdale Bottle Exchange Limited  75 Park Road Elmsdale, Nova Scotia
• Faders Bottle Exchange  15 Sackville Cross Roads Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia
• Floss Bottle Exchange  Old Antigonish Ln. Monastery, Nova Scotia
• Golden Penny Enterprizes  31 Bridge Avenue Stellarton, Nova Scotia
• Goodwood Bottle Return  957 Prospect Rd. Goodwood, Nova Scotia
• Greentree Recycling  44 Green Tree ln. Windsor Junction, Nova Scotia
• H&H Recovery  243 Water St. Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
• Hankinson Salvage & Recycling Limited  76 Junction Rd. Middleton, Nova Scotia
• Greenwood Recycling  1070 Central Ave Greenwood, Nova Scotia
• John Ross & Son Limited  7 Cummane st. Truro, Nova Scotia
• John Ross & Sons Limited  171 Chain Lake Drive Halifax, Nova Scotia
• John’s Bottle Exchange  Depot St. Pictou, Nova Scotia
• Jones Bottle Exchange  932 Main Street Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia
• Joseph Fritz Enterprises Limited  8751 Commerical St. New Minas, Nova Scotia
• Karen’s Bottle Exchange & Recycling  807 Main St. Hwy #7 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
• Keep Garbage Beneficial  Main Hwy, Route 6 Pugwash, Nova Scotia
• L.W. Layton Salvage  3239 Hwy 358 Canning, Nova Scotia
• Laing’s Recycling  118 Old Road Hall Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia
• Matt’s Recycling  124 Cow Bay Rd. Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia
• MacMillan’s Service Centre  4802 Hwy 104 Antigonish, Nova Scotia
• Baddeck Recycling Depot  440 Old Margree Rd. Baddeck, Nova Scotia
• New Haven Recycling Depot  White Point Rd. Neil’s Harbour, Nova Scotia
• New Waterford Bottle Exchange  5559 Union Hwy. New Waterford, Nova Scotia
• O’Leary’s Recycling  3 Bowman Rd Garland’s Crossing, Nova Scotia
• Oickle’s Bottle Exchange  100 High Street Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
• Pegg’s Recycling  434 Keltic Dr. Sydney River, Nova Scotia
• Porter’s Lake – Marcs Bottle Exchange  5332 Hwy #7 Porters Lake, Nova Scotia
• Recycle Market, The  11470 #7 Highway Lake Charlotte, Nova Scotia
• Ridge Road Recycling Depot  Hwy #3 103 Barrington Shelburne, Nova Scotia
• Sackville Bottle Exchange  446 Sackville Dr. Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia
• Strait Bottle Exchange  Paint St. Industrial Mall Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia
• Arichat Bottle Exchange  9395 Hwy #4, Lower Rd Arichat, Nova Scotia
• Subway Bottle Exchange  25 Pictou Road Bible Hill, Nova Scotia
• Tatamagouche Recycling Centre  102 Main st. Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia
• Timberlea Bottle Exchange  2352 St. Margaret’s Bay Rd. Lakeside, Nova Scotia
• T’n’T Recycling  20711 HWY 2 Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia
• Total Recycling  85 Industrial Drive Sydney, Nova Scotia
• Triple B Recycling  24 Stornaway Street Sydney, Nova Scotia
• Valley Recycling  Hwy #1 Greenwich, Nova Scotia
• Wentzell’s Bottle Recycling  130 Hwy #208 New Germany, Nova Scotia
• Nova 4 Enviro Ltd.  16 Acadia St. Amherst, Nova Scotia
• Chetticamp Recycling Depot  15957 Cabot Trail Chétticamp, Nova Scotia
• D & R Bottle Exchange  147 Mill Street Mulgrave, Nova Scotia

Ontario

• Canadian Tire – 320 Bayfield Street, Barrie (Bin located near Customer Service & Mall Entrance)
• Canadian Tire – 75 Mapleview Drive West, Barrie (Bin located near Customer Service)
• Zehrs Markets – 472 Bayfield Street, Barrie (Bin located in Customer Service)
• Zehrs Markets – 620 Yonge Street, Barrie (Bin located in Customer Service)
• Georgian College, Barrie Campus – 1 Georgian Drive, Barrie (Bin located in Campus Connections office in C building)
• Georgian College, Orillia Campus – 825 Memorial Avenue, Orillia (Bin located in Campus Connections office)

Recycling a cell phone is now even easier thanks to participating member depots of the Eastern Recyclers Association.  Nova Scotians can now recycle their old cell phones ethically through CellCycle.ca at any one of almost 60 participating bottle depots across Nova Scotia.

With nearly 21,000,000 cell phones becoming obsolete in Canada every eighteen months stashed away in drawers, or worse, being tossed into the trash, recycling cell phones for Nova Scotians is now as easy as recycling empty bottles. While the wireless industry currently estimates that fewer than 15% of all cell phones get recycled, this is an important development in the step towards ensuring better diversion of the troublesome waste stream.

If disposed of by landfill, mobile phones can potentially contaminate land and water due to the presence of known toxic chemicals and carcinogens such as lead, mercury and arsenic. Recycling cell phones is not without challenges either, since the electronic recycling, reuse and refurbishment industry is largely unregulated, but CellCycle.ca is doing its part to combat unethical processing of used mobile devices by choosing to work with  partners located in Canada and the USA who are committed to preventing the export of electronic waste to third-world countries.

A complete listing of the new depots follows:

So you bought a BlackBerry a few years ago and your contract is finally up… and there are deals to be had elsewhere!  Until recently, your only options were to cancel your service with your old carrier and get a new phone with a new carrier.  If you didn’t want to pay $600 for a new BlackBerry, you would also have to sign a new contract for about 36 months in order to get a discount.

Times, and terms,  have changed. 

 Bell and Telus have launched a GSM (different technology) network which means that you may now be able to take your phone with you between carriers.  Just check with Bell or Telus first to see if your handset is compatible with their service.  Bell offers a handy tool online to lookup whether your phone will work with their service. 

If your contract was with Rogers or Fido, chances are good that you can use your current phone on the new Bell and Telus network to take advantage of deals.  The key to this freedom is to unlock your phone from your original carrier.  There are many services out there that offer to unlock cell phones and if you’re technically inclined you might even be able to do it yourself with a little time, patience and the right unlock code.

If you’re like the rest of us though and want to use your cell phone on another network without learning rocket science, you might benefit from using a service such as Unique Phones which will provide you with the appropriate unlock code for your phone for a reasonable fee.

CellCycle.ca is not a charity. 

My family and I have noble intentions for our cell phone recycling project but we are not a not-for-profit enterprise.  Like many people, we’re trying to make a living by doing something good for our community and our planet. Some other cell phone recycling initiatives, however, even go so far as to use “charity” or “charitable” in their name and imply charitable status.

Don’t be fooled!

Charities are registered legal entities that must live up to certain conditions under the law.  It is one thing for an organization to raise money for a charity and donate a portion of proceeds, but some companies in the recycling business imply that all money raised goes to charity.

We’ve begun to offer charitable fundraising as an alternative to our standard tree-planting commitment.  What distinguishes us from companies that offer recycling for charity is that we believe in being up front and ethical about how much money a charity can expect to raise, we believe in paying charities for each cell phone they collect for us regardless of age or condition, and we believe in providing ethical downstream information about where collected phones ultimately end up for processing or reuse.

Not everyone sees the need for more trees.  Some people know of other worthwhile initiatives that desperately need funding.

Accepting this fact, we’re proud to introduce fundraising services for any non-profit cause.

Whether you know of a daycare that could use some extra cash for recycling cell phones, a food bank, a community clinic, a zoo, a health promotion agency, relief of poverty, building homes for the less privileged, or any other group, we’re happy to help.

Unlike other cell phone recycling services in Canada, we will pay for EVERY cell phone your organization collects, not just the ones that can be reused.  We’ll even pay for shipping provided that your organization collects a minimum quantity.

In addition, you can rest assured that the non-functional cell phones collected by your organization will not be exported to developing nations as e-waste.  We’re committed to protecting the planet and people, wherever they live.

Contact us today to find out more.

Keep your eyes open for our new bins at both Canadian Tire stores in Barrie.

These bins feature enhanced security to protect your privacy when you donate your old phone for recycling.

We’re working on replacing the rest of the bins in the community however it will take time as the bins are a little pricey.

Did you know?

Cell phones contain tantalum, which is made from coltan, a resource mined out of the Congo in Africa. Mining coltan can destroy gorilla habitats, further endangering the species.

By recycling your cell phone, you can help protect gorillas!

With the first 50 trees planted and taking root in the public park on Sun King Crescent in Barrie’s South End, our next target is to collect a minimum of 1000 phones between June and August, 2009, so that we can plant an additional 1000 trees on the first day of fall.

We’re off to a good start so far, having collected 50 phones in May alone.

Please lend a hand by taking the time to recycle your old cell phone at one of our drop boxes and by encouraging the people you know to take part as well. 

Together we can make a difference!

After collecting 50 cell phones in May, we executed our first 50 seedling planting today at the public park on Sun King Crescent in Barrie’s south end.  Despite teeming rain, the soil was soft and permitted us to get the trees in the ground without issue.

 We’re hoping to have several hundred seedlings to plant this fall when the ground cools down and the trees stand a good chance of survival.

Special thanks to Don Wright and A News for coming out  and covering our event despite the rain.

Please continue to recycle your cell phone through us and help us improve the environment!