SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) – The city has established a recycling program that gives people a way to get rid of unwanted cell phones.

In putting out boxes for cell phones in municipal buildings, the city is thought to be the first municipality in Maine to set up a cell phone recycling program, joining a growing number of companies, schools and nonprofits that are doing the same.

The disposal of cell phones is part of a growing nationwide focus on electronic waste, which can contain metals and other toxins harmful to the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 130 million cell phones will go out of use this year.

“I think in the last two or three years people have become much more aware of the problems concerning e-waste,” said Ann Pistell, an environmental services specialist with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Michele Sturgeon, an employee with the South Portland Public Works Department, learned about recycling cell phones while working on other recycling programs for the city.

She registered the city with Erie, Pa.-based FundingFactory, which buys used cell phones and printer cartridges. Sturgeon said residents want to recycle, but often don’t know how.

“They need the avenues,” she said.

In exchange for the cell phones, the city will get money or credits toward merchandise from FundingFactory. The value of the phones ranges from less than $1 to more than $100 in some cases.

After collecting the phones, FundingFactory sells them to companies that refurbish or resell them in foreign markets where technology lags. Some phones are sent to companies that strip them of their usable materials and dispose of the rest.

South Portland is likely the first municipality in Maine to sign up with FundingFactory, but at least 100 school and church groups, universities, and private businesses in the state have signed up with the company, said marketing coordinator Valerie Hammond.

There are other cell phone recycling programs in Maine. One program collects unwanted cell phones and gives them to victims of domestic violence so they have a way to call 911. Some cell phone retailers also collect unwanted phones.

The EPA estimates that the average caller replaces a cell phone after just 18 months of use, creating an estimated 65,000 tons of waste.