With the number of cellular phone owners growing, there’s become a surplus of unused phones as users update to newer models.

Cell phone companies are developing programs for the disposal of old cell phones, as users typically update their phones every year and a half, said Katie Feltz, account executive for Cushman Amberg Inc. in Chicago.

The ISU greek community is working with Sprint to recycle old cell phones. Proceeds are donated to the National Organization on Disability and Easter Seals, said Lindsey Hunzelman of the Collegiate Panhellenic Council.

Sprint will donate cell phones and a service plan to the greek house that collects the most cell phones for recycling, she said.

The cell phones don’t need to be in working order, nor do they need to be a Sprint model, Hunzelman said.

People can bring their old cell phones to drop boxes around Ames, located at the Memorial Union and local grocery stores, she said.

Hunzelman said the greek community is hoping to recycle more than 500 phones.

U.S. Cellular has a similar program, called the “Community Action Recycling Effort” or CARE, Feltz said.

Wireless customers can bring in their old phones and U.S. Cellular partners with a recycling company that pays for the old phones and recycles them, she said.

If one cell phone has a cracked display and another one has a bad battery, the recycling company will combine the two parts to make a cell phone work, said Todd Walker, area resale manager for U.S. Cellular.

Feltz said some women’s shelters take old cell phones as donations as well. The shelters give phones to women when they leave the shelter.

“[Even though] the phone isn’t activated, [calling] 9-1-1 will still work,” she said.

Walker said he is pleased with the success of the CARE program.

“It’s amazing how many people supported the program,” he said.

Smaller sizes, full-color displays, less delay in voice transmission, greater text messaging, the ability to take a picture and high-speed Internet are are all reasons a phone user may decide to upgrade to a newer model phone, Walker said.

In addition to visible physical upgrades in cell phones, there are also technical improvements, Walker said.

For example, cell phone companies are working to switch to code conversation, he said.

Cell phones currently use “time conversation,” Walker said.

Time conversation goes through a channel. Time code breaks down the conversation into smaller sections and “pieces them back together” when they get to the receiver. Code allows for more people to use phones at a time and for greater amounts of data transmission, he said.