When it comes to mobile recycling, you can’t get a bigger event than the U.S. National Cell Phone Recycling Week which started on 6 April, 2009. Yet many U.S. journalists have written stories on the fact that the week will go almost unnoticed due to the lack of publicity in the run-up to the week.

National Cell Phone Recycling Week is a new nationally designated event created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which actually released the official news of the special seven-day period on 2 April, only a few days before its start. At least they did not announce the news one day earlier, on April Fool’s Day.

Commentators are asking whether this reflects the ambivalent attitude when its comes to mobile recycling, as most U.S. consumers throw their redundant handsets into the bin. In the U.S., many of the manufacturers will accept their old phones back, via the relevant shops, or by post. AT&T, LG, Sprint, Sony, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless all accept their old phones back, although the ease of doing this is often less publicized than recycle campaigning groups might wish for.

However the mobile phone is disposed of, users are reminded of the three things that must be done before they say a final goodbye to their phone:

1. if on a contract, it must be terminated, or the details changed;
2. the SIM card must be removed;
3. all data on the mobile must be removed, either by returning the phone back to it’s manufacturers settings, or using a online data wipe service.

Whether the U.S. National Cell Phone Recycling Week will have an impact upon mobile recycling remains to be seen, but observers hope that next week, it will be heralded with a little more enthusiasm.