Cell phones could be recharged in seconds rather than hours if a new device designed by researchers at the University of Illinois in the United States happens. The device is a 3D nanostructure that could give users the power to recharge cell phones and laptop computers in just a few seconds using high charge lasers and defibrillators, according to a report in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Those looking to recycle old cell phones and other electronic goods will have a spot of bother in Florence County in South Carolina in the United States. Florence County recycling sites will stop accepting used cell phones and other forms of e-waste as of the first of July this year, with those that try to do the right thing and recycle their e-waste at the sites even being up for a fine if they do so after that date.

Now, I will start by saying that I did not double-check the figures of what I am about to talk about; but the statistics, which come from a site called Waste Management World, look close to other things I have read. So I feel safe in presenting them here. If they are wrong, it will not be by much.

Keeping your cell phone free of bacteria has often been discussed as a hygiene issue, but people may be surprised by the results of an experiment conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada. Keeping a cell phone clean is actually a whole lot less complicated than some might think, judging from the results of the study.

Those wishing to recycle old cell phones, along with other electrical goods, in California now have a much easier time of it than ever before. Over nine and a half million households in the US state, more than eighty-three percent, are now within ten miles or less of their nearest drop-off point where they can safely dispose of used cell phones and other forms of waste for the purposes of recycling. Even better, around seven million of those, around six out of every ten households, is actually within five miles. There are now no less than two hundred and thirty-five collection points for e-waste throughout California.

No one knows the worth of cell phone recycling better than John Shegarian. Shegarian, the Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Recyclers International Inc, has made millions out of recycling electronic equipment, including old cell phones. ‘Urban mining’ is how Shegarian describes the process of the recycling of electronic goods, including used cell phones, and he should know.

Alcoa has joined the Basel Action Network (BAN), the environmental company which is dedicated to promoting the recycling of electronics, including old cell phones. Alcoa has already been recognized as a leader in environmental sustainability, being on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the last nine years in a row. It has signed up for Basel Action Network’s e-Stewards Enterprise, which helps companies to responsibly recycle their electronic waste, including used cell phones.

Just the one company, Hoosiers, donated over fifteen thousand used cell phones to the Verizon Wireless HopeLine program over the course of 2010. The HopeLine program, which was established in order to help survivors of domestic violence in Indiana in the United States, both reuses the old cell phones by giving them to the victims and also recycles them in order to give cash to non profit organizations that try to prevent and raise awareness of domestic violence, in addition to local shelters.

The EU has set new targets for the recycling of e-waste, but at least one recycling company believes they are still just not good enough. At the moment, the EU Environment Council has set collection quotas of four kilograms of electrical and electronic waste, including old cell phones, per person, but is now looking to change those quotas to a percentage of how much electrical equipment is sold instead.