Sorry, Apple, too little, too late. You need a program that not only takes back these products, but also un-produces all the components. So plastics should be converted back into oils and checmicals. All mined materials need to be returned back to their unprocessed state and returned to the ground. Packaging boxes need to be unshredded and unmilled, then replanted as 20 year old trees (unless you used recycled materials, then it needs to be returned back to last years newspapers).

Then, since you insisted on paying someone to actually make these products, all people involved must reconstruct all food they ingested due to your payments back into their appropriate living animals/vegetable materials.

Only then will you get Greenpeace's seal of approval!

What about non-US people? -.-

Stupid Apple..

There are DOZENS of places that take back Cell Phones.

if I turn in my old cell phone - will they give me cash or a decent credit for an upgrade - maybe incentive for an iPhone?

If I'm not going to get any trade in value for the phone - what's the point?

What a tool. How long as other cell phone companies been in business? How long did it took for other cell phone companies to create a recycling program? Apple is probably one of the companies that are the fastest to come up with a recycling program.

t***, It took Apple about half a year to have this, why don't you see if you can do better. I guess not.

There are plenty of places / companies that recycles cell phones, thain esh kelch you idiot.

The quickest thing I could find is the iPod recycling page, which mentions that cell phones are included (http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/ipodrecycling/) at archive.org from July: http://web.archive.org/web/20070705120824/http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/ipodrecycling/

What a tool. How long as other cell phone companies been in business? How long did it took for other cell phone companies to create a recycling program? Apple is probably one of the companies that are the fastest to come up with a recycling program.

Giving Apple props for getting a recycling program going 6 months after starting as 'better than other companies' completely ignores the fact that the other companies were in business a really long time before any of this became socially (and economically) relevant. But, hey, anything to shine good light on apple.

BTW, this isn't just a phone recycling, but covers iPods as well...

And I seem to recall Apple used to give 'credit' if you returned an old iPod when buying a new one. Do they not do this anymore?

Finally, no one seems to be pointing out that it usually is the cell provider who does the recycling, not the cell-phone maker. The bigger question is whether Motorola, Nokia, etc have recycling programs?

"If I turn in my old cell phone - will they give me cash or a decent credit for an upgrade - maybe incentive for an iPhone?

If I'm not going to get any trade in value for the phone - what's the point?"

And why shouldn't I just spill my excess paint and chemicals down the drain? Nobody's going to pay me to dispose of it properly. So what's the point?

The point -- and it's pretty shameful that some people actually need this spelled out -- is that there are better ways and worse ways to do things. You shouldn't be chucking your computers and cell phones in the trash because that is not an appropriate place for them. Apple is providing the service of recycling your unwanted gear for free. If you can, instead, sell it (or give it) to somebody, then yippee for you. You want Apple to pay you for taking on the expense of recycling your unwanted stuff? Get real.