NORTHAMPTON–MA (Mass Live, Dec 4th, 2014) – Despite concerns by some councilors that personal information could be compromised, the City Council voted Thursday to license an ATM-like machine that will pay cash for used hand-held electronics.
The machine, which resembles a Star Wars robot, will be located at the Stop & Shop on King Street, according to ecoATM, the California-based parent company. In Northampton, residents often pay to dispose used electronics at the landfill, but ecoATM will take them in exchange for cash. However, the transaction requires a thumbprint from customers, which the company has promised to share with law enforcement along with photographs taken by the machine.
ecoATM touts its environmental benefits, saying it has recycled more than 70,000 pounds of copper, enough to create another Statue of Liberty. It mainly deals in cell phone, fewer than 20 percent of which are recycled.
