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Cell Phone Recycling
Answer the "Call of the Wild".
Recycle your old cell phones, including batteries,
Pagers and other portable electronic devices
at the Toronto Zoo.
ECO-CELLTM and the Toronto Zoo collaborate with over 90 other zoos, aquariums and wildlife institutions toward educating our visitors and the public about the significant negative effects of the cell phone industry on wildlife, particularly on gorillas and gorilla habitat in Africa.
Why recycle my cell phone?
Recycling cell phones will: 
- conserve natural resources
- limit toxic e-wastes in landfills
- protect endangered gorillas and their habitats
- help other wildlife and habitat in the Congo
Coltan is the metallic ore used to produce the element tantalum. Tantalum is used in a metal powder form that is lightweight and can hold a very high electrical charge. These properties make it a vital element in creating capacitors, the electronic elements that control flow inside miniature circuit boards. Tantalum capacitors are used in almost all cell phones, laptops, pagers and other electronic devices.
Coltan is most concentrated, and therefore most easily mined, in the rainforests of the former republic of the Congo. Unfortunately, the endangered lowland gorilla also calls this spot home. By recycling old cell phones, tantalum can be re-used - lessening the demand to mine pure coltan in the Congo. Market demand for cell phones is growing more than exponentially. The average Canadian teenager will dispose of 3 cell phones before they turn 20... and there are millions of Canadian teenagers.
Toronto Zoo is a leader! - We have recycled over 4000 cell phones since 2006, more than any other institution participating in the ECOCELL project!
All funds generated by the project are donated to gorilla conservation programs in Africa. For each cell phone that is recycled, ECOCELLTM donates a minimum of $0.45 and a maximum of $15 to the Toronto Zoo's Endangered Species Recovery Fund (ESRF). ESRF funds from the ECOCELL program are used to support in situ gorilla conservation programs/projects in Africa. To make a donation directly to this fund please call 416-392-9114 or click here
How you can get involved in the Toronto Zoo's
cell phone recycling program:
*** Please ensure that the service of all donated cell phones has been discontinued
Be a part of the Toronto Zoo's Cell Phone Count! You can recycle your old cell phones, including batteries, pagers, and other portable electronic devices in a few ways:
- Drop them off on your next Toronto Zoo visit!
Drop off locations – on-site:
Guest Services, front entrance
Gorilla exhibit, African Rainforest Pavilion
Education/volunteer centre
Administrative Building -361A Old Finch Avenue
Drop off locations – off-site partners:
Bomanville Zoo
Toronto Zoo - Cell Phone Recycling Program
C/O Curator of Conservation Programs
361A Old Finch Avenue
Scarborough, Ontario
M1B 5K7
 - Get your own ECO-CELLTM / Toronto Zoo decorated recycling box!
If your community, company, or other organization has a large turnover of cell phones and other devices, please contact Conservation Programs at 416-397-5202 or e-mail direland@torontozoo.ca to request your own collection box. We will send pre-paid envelopes when you have collected 20 or more cell phones or other devices. For information on the Toronto Zoo lowland gorilla troop, please visit our website at  www.torontozoo.com/animals.
Other ways you can help protect gorillas and their habitat:
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