Yesterday, Apple rolled out some changes to their
recycling program and it appears they are more open to sharing the love with Apple gift cards and helping you dispose of your non-Apple products. Included in the changes are gift cards in exchange for old iPhones or iPads and recycling of old computers.
It is hard to believe that the original iPad, at its young age of 16 months, is considered old, but in case you have one and are not interested in Craigslist or eBay sales, the Apple recycling program may work. You could score an Apple gift card worth $170 for a mint condition 16GB 3G iPad and $40 for one that is in rough shape. Just FYI, on eBay, used iPads are still selling for over $320.
Although the gift cards may not be representative of the value of your iPhone or iPad, Apple’s other trade-in options may be helpful. Apple will now help you get rid of old computers and monitors that you cannot even put in a free box at a garage sale.
Previously, Apple recycled non-Apple computers and displays for customers who were upgrading to a Mac for no charge. For those wishing to recycle old computers without the purchase of a Mac, Apple charged $30 to cover the shipping. Now, anyone can recycle an old computer for no charge, regardless of whether or not they are purchasing a new Mac.
Apple is using a couple of providers for their recycling programs. For items that have trade-in value, Apple contracts with
PowerOn and for recycling of items with no value, they use
WeRecycle.
Apple still offers its iPod recycling program at the Apple Store, where they will give you 10 percent off a shiny new iPod purchase.
