Between new smartphones and other highly anticipated devices rapidly being released on the market, many consumers find themselves with a stack of old devices. 

Maybe they're shoved away in a closer or a desk drawer — just waiting to be disposed of one of these days.

Whether your old device is still functional, or no longer operating, it's important to dispose of the electronics properly.

Electronics contain toxic substances such as lead, mercury and cadmium that need to be removed with care. 

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These devices should be either donated or recycled, not thrown in the bin with the rest of your household garbage.

If you have one or more electronic devices that you need to get rid of, here are the steps you can take to safely recycle unwanted tech.

Before doing anything else, you need to erase all personal information from the devices you are getting rid of. There are a few different ways to do this, depending on the type of device you have.

If there is nothing worth keeping on the device, you can simply clear everything before recycling it. However, it's not that simple if your device is filled with pictures, videos and important documents that you need or want.

You'll have to move all of your data from the old device to a device you are keeping or to an external hard drive.

For example, if you are getting rid of an old iPhone but want to keep the pictures stored, you'll need to plug it into a computer. 

Then, you can either save what you need to the actual computer, or to an external hard drive. You can also save everything to a cloud service.

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If you are getting rid of a device that uses a sim card, you can also remove it to clear all your data from the device. 

Perhaps the easiest way to recycle a device is by trading it in, though there are a few caveats to this option.

Many phone carriers offer trade in options when purchasing a new phone. 

This essentially means that you can bring in your old phone and earn credit to use toward the purchase of a new one.

Keep in mind that with this option, your phone needs to be functioning. 

Additionally, it usually needs to be a newer model to receive credit. If your phone is functioning, but has cosmetic issues, this will deter from the phone's value.

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When you trade in your phone, you don't have to worry about backing up your device, or clearing all the data as the carrier will take care of all that for you. 

Typically, the data from your old phone will be transferred to your new one when purchased.

You can bring used technology to an electronics manufacturer, since most chain electronics stores have recycling programs of their own.

Best Buy has their own recycling program. Moreover, there are kiosks to recycle your electronics yourself. ecoATM, a kiosk for disposing technology, was established in 2011. People can safely dispose of their devices and earn cash.

The machines accept cell phones and tablets. 

Simply place your device inside, the machine will determine how much your device is worth and make you an offer. If the product is unusable, it will be properly recycled. 

If it's usable, it will be refurbished.

Amazon's trade-in program will help you understand which devices are eligible for trading. Select the appropriate category and fill in the information. 

Then, ship your product, and you'll receive an Amazon gift card to your account.

The value of the gift card will depend on the device you've traded in.

Donating your old devices is a great way to safely get rid of electronics and give back.

Cell Phones For Soldiers, a charity benefiting U.S. soldiers, was established in 2004. 

The program collects old devices and uses the proceeds to purchase international calling cards for troops. Phones donated through nonprofits like this are recycled and refurbished safely.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said at the United Nations in New York City on Tuesday that it is "essential" to preserve the freedom of the press and that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should not be prosecuted for informing the public.

"It is essential to preserve the freedom of the press. A journalist like Julian Assange cannot be punished for informing society in a transparent and legitimate way," Lula said.

The president's comments come a day before a cross-party delegation of Australian politicians meet in Washington, D.C., with U.S. officials, members of Congress and civil rights groups. The group is bringing a letter signed by more than 60 members of parliament calling on the U.S. to drop the prosecution against Assange, who is fighting against extradition to the U.S., where could be sentenced to as many as 175 years in an American maximum security prison.

U.S. President Joe Biden will host Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in late October. Albanese has repeatedly called on the U.S. in recent months to end the prosecution of the Australian journalist.

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Assange is facing 17 charges for receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public under the espionage act and one charge alleging a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. The charges stem from the 2010 publication of cables U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning leaked to Wikileaks that detailed war crimes committed by the U.S. government in the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, Iraq and Afghanistan. The materials also expose instances of the CIA engaging in torture and rendition.

Wikileaks' "Collateral Murder" video showing the U.S. military gunning down civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists, was also published 13 years ago.

"Our fight is against disinformation and cybercrime," Lula said on Tuesday. "Acts and platforms should not abolish the labor laws we fight so hard for."

Assange has been held at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11, 2019, for breaching bail conditions. He had sought asylum at the embassy in London to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations he raped two women because Sweden would not provide assurances it would protect him from extradition to the U.S. The investigations into the sexual assault allegations were eventually dropped.

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In May, Lula denounced the lack of concerted efforts to free Assange, calling it an "embarrassment" that a journalist who "denounced trickery by one state against another is arrested, condemned to die in jail, and we do nothing to free him."

"It's a crazy thing," Lula told reporters at the time. "We talk about freedom of expression; the guy is in prison because he denounced wrongdoing. And the press doesn’t do anything in defense of this journalist. I can’t understand it."

The Obama administration decided not to indict Assange after Wikileaks published the cables in 2010 because it would have had to also indict journalists from major news outlets who published the materials. Former President Obama also commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence, for violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, to seven years. 

However, former President Trump's Justice Department later moved to indict Assange under the Espionage Act, and the Biden administration has continued to pursue his prosecution.

"I think there must be a movement of world press in his defense. Not in regard to his person, but to defend the right to denounce," Lula told reporters in May. "The guy didn't denounce anything vulgar. He denounced that a state was spying on others, and that became a crime against the journalist. The press, which defends freedom of the press, does nothing to free this citizen. It's sad, but it’s true."

Last year, the editors and publishers of U.S. and European news outlets that worked with Assange on the publication of excerpts from more than 250,000 documents he obtained in the Cablegate leak — The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País — wrote an open letter calling for the U.S. to drop the charges against Assange.

And in April, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., led a letter to the Justice Department signed by some of her congressional colleagues demanding Assange's freedom.