The problem of what to do with discarded electronic devices has been a growing but largely ignored issue. But one veteran technologist may have come up with the perfect solution: automated recycling for cash.

The ecoATM accepts your old (or new) cell phones and digital music players and offers you cash for them via a touch screen kiosk. First the kiosk identifies your device, and then it asks you to plug it in so it can determine the working condition of the device. Once these assessments are made it offers you a buy-out price which you can decline or accept and immediate receive cash or opt to donate the money to charity.

So far the ecoATM is only in selected locations in California, Seattle and the Midwest, but if the process is as seamless as the demonstration suggests, this will catch on quickly. You can see the ecoATM in action in the video below.

[Video]

Source: Dvice

ecoATM Pictures

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