Greentech Lead U.S: Celebrating America Recycles Day,
national telecommunications carrier Sprint has launched a phone recycling
pledge wherein customers can win one of five rewards cards worth $500 through
November 30.
The company has posted a video online that
illustrates how old cell phones can gain a “second life” while reducing the
amount of electronic waste in the marketplace.
Electronic waste continues to be the fastest growing
waste stream in the country. Last year alone, Sprint recycled more than 11
million wireless devices, over 211,000 on average per week.
Last year, manufacturers produced more than 1.68 billion
wireless phones worldwide. In the United States alone, it’s estimated that
fewer than 10 percent of discarded mobile phones will be recycled. In 2001,
Sprint recognized the trend and got serious about helping solve the growing
threat of electronic waste.
Sprint developed a phone trade-in program and was the
first U.S. wireless carrier to provide an instant credit at point of sale, as
well as allow customers to bring back any phone from any carrier, now known as
the Sprint Buyback program. Today, an average of four out of every 10
customers who visit a Sprint retail store participates in the program. This has
resulted in more than $75 million going back into customers’ pockets just this
year.
Through the Buyback program Sprint has collected more
than 4,000 metric tons of electronic waste — more than 40 million wireless
devices. It’s also helped the company avoid more than $1 billion in cost.