Millions of people trade in their cellphones every year for discounts on shiny new ones, whether through their carrier or through the manufacturers themselves.

It's a financial incentive that comes packaged — but not in plastic — with the feel-good understanding of helping the planet by preventing the toxic chemicals in a phone's components from ending up in a landfill and harming the environment.

But many people don't know how their devices get handled after they're processed for trade-in, or how they recycle the materials into a new device.

As it turns out, two of the world's tech giants, Apple and Google, have similar philosophies and very different ways of going about their trade-in and recycling programs.

Read and listen to the full story on KJZZ’s website.