Cell phone recycling urged

Keeping them out of children’s hands, landfills

By LISA M. HOFFMANN, Staff Writer

IRON MOUNTAIN - Cell phone users are encouraged to recycle their old cell phones, so they do not end up in landfills or in the mouths of young children.

Recycling phones also prevents 911 dispatch centers from getting an overload of calls from a phone they can't trace.

In a two-day time frame recently, the Dickinson County Dispatch Center received 80 calls from the same cell phone.

Pete Schlitt, Director of Emergency Services for Dickinson County, said this is rare, but when it does occur, it overextends the dispatch system and jams it up.

Eventually, the calls were traced to children playing with an old cell phone.

The system has since been reset.

No matter what, dispatchers have to react to the call.

"We have to find out if it is a real call. Parents give cell phones to their kids, and the problem is that some of the older phones, the number 9 automatically dials 911. Then we have to try to find out if it is a real emergency," Schlitt said.

Schlitt said as a way to minimize these calls, parents should not give young children a real cell phone as a toy, especially a cell phone with the battery still inside.

"Don't give them a real cell phone. Make sure the battery is removed before giving it to them," he said.

Justin Micheau, general manager for Alltel on South Stephenson Ave. in Iron Mountain, agreed.

"It's an electronic. An old phone is not a good idea to give to a child," he said.

Young children put everything in their mouths. The buttons of an older cell phone can fall off, and the battery is unsafe for a child.

When a call is received from a cell phone and it is an emergency, dispatch attempts to track the call and get a location where the call was made, using their computer system.

Many newer phones have e911 capabilities. Older phones do not have this and cause problems for 911 dispatchers when they try to call the number back.

Micheau encourages cell phone users to recycle old cell phones.

Alltel works with two companies to recycle cell phones throughout the Upper Peninsula - Flipswap and Wireless Alliance.

Flipswap, based out of Canada, recycles the phone and gives money to the customer. Micheau said for each phone they get, they plant a tree. He said the company's goals are to keep cell phones out of landfills.

Flipswap clears all personal information out of cell phones, re-manufactures them and sells them in South America, or the phone is parted out and disposed of properly.

"We don't want little kids getting a hold of them and putting the battery in their mouth or have the battery sitting in a landfill," Micheau said.

If Flipswap is not going to give money for the phone, Alltel will let the customer know and still recycle the phone through Wireless Alliance.

If that's the case, customers are given $15 for the phone, which can then be used in Alltel stores for car charges, blue tooth earpiece or any other cell phone accessories.

"That is the best thing to do with them. It is a good cause to donate to a (women's) shelter, but again is it really the safest alternative for those people?" Micheau said.

Even without service, old cell phones can still dial 911. That is why they are given to domestic violence shelters.

"If they run into a problem, they can still dial 911 from that phone," Micheau said.

Lisa M. Hoffmann's e-mail address is lhoffmann@ironmountaindailynews.com.