lTcfii7iE§l WITH U.S. EPA 2007 Activities Plug-In To eCycling Program http://www.epa.gov/plugin/ 2007 Plug-In Partner Accomplishments Plug-In To eCycling is a partnership between EPA and 24 electronic manufacturers and retailers to offer consumers more opportunities to donate or recycle their used electronics. Plug-In To eCycling pilots innovative on-the-ground solutions that can be expanded to sustainable local, regional, and national collection recycling programs. The program's initiatives are intended to reflect shared responsibility amongst manufacturers, retailers, governments and consumers, and illustrate how voluntary industry-led models can complement existing government collection and recycling efforts. In 2007, partners recycled or reused over 47 million pounds of electronics from consumers—mostly computers, televisions, and cell phones—via their voluntary collaborative efforts or through new partnership programs.1 Conservatively, the greenhouse gas savings from recycling these electronics is equivalent to removing nearly 32,000 cars off U.S. roads each year. Since the Plug- In program's inception in 2003, partners have recycled over 142 million pounds of electronics via collaborative and voluntary efforts. Welcome to our NEW Plug-In To eCycling 2007 Partners LG Electronics Motorola Nokia Sony Ericcson Sprint T-Mobile Wal-Mart Our partners achieved the following voluntary accomplishments in 2007: AT&T refurbished and recycled almost 3.9 million phones and recycled over 911,000 pounds of accessories and batteries. "At AT&T, we strive to be good stewards of the environment in the communities we serve. That's why we're proud to partner with the EPA's Plug-In To eCycling Cell Phone Recycling Awareness Campaign." -Wayne Alba, Environment, Health and Safety Specialist, AT&T Best Buy collected more than 111,000 consumer electronics—16.8 million pounds—through its services and haul-away programs for recycling or refurbishment. Best Buy also maintains a permanent recycling kiosk in over 900 Best Buy stores across the U.S. to collect wireless devices, compact discs, ink cartridges and rechargeable batteries. To date these kiosks have collected over 83,000 pounds of materials for recycling. This past year, Best Buy also sponsored collection events, collecting 3.45 million pounds of computers and televisions from over 38,000 participants. In addition, Best Buy initiated a formal grant program, helping to fund nearly 90 electronics recycling events in 26 states. In 2007, Best Buy's programs collectively recycled over 96 million pounds of electronics and appliances, a volume increase of 35% over 2006. Dell offers consumers free online recycling for used Dell products and expanded its Reconnect partnership with Goodwill to include the state of New Jersey and the city of Philadelphia. The Reconnect program gives consumers the opportunity to drop off used electronics for reuse and recycling in communities in North Carolina, the state of Michigan, San Diego, 1 Some companies, as listed, recycled millions of pounds more through their global and business-oriented recycling programs. ©ERA United States Environmental Protection Agency ------- San Francisco, Austin, Houston, and Pittsburgh. Dell's long-term goal is to expand the Reconnect program nationally. Dell also hosted collection events in Seattle and Austin, collecting over 660,000 pounds of electronics from over 2,700 participants. Last year Dell recycled 78 million pounds of electronics through all of its recycling programs. "Today's generation of environmental leaders understands the value of partnerships in achieving our common goals. Every electronics manufacturer, regardless of size or location, can join its customers and members of the ReGeneration—people of all ages who care about the environment—by offering a free, global consumer recycling program. Our shared earth deserves no less." -Tod Arbogast, Director of Sustainable Business, Dell Inc. HP recycled over 245 million pounds of hardware and supplies globally and reused over 32 million pounds. HP teamed up with Wal-Mart to host 12 collection events across the U.S., collecting over 269,000 pounds of electronics for recycling from consumers. Intel supported seven collection events that collected 2 million pounds of electronics. LG Electronics LG Electronics recently launched its online cell phone recycling program, where consumers can download a label and mail in their phones. Since the programs inception, LG has collected some 370 cell phones from this mail-in take back program. NEC Display Solutions recycled over 169,000 pounds of electronics through its recycling and trade-in program. Nokia collected over 45,000 cell phones from its Bag In A Box program, where consumers mail in their used phones, batteries and accessories using pre-paid envelopes included in new Nokia sales packages. Nokia also recycled 3,000 phones from consumers that downloaded free shipping labels from its website. In October 2007, Nokia challenged New York City to recycle 100,000 phones by November 15, America Recycles Day,2 and launched a nationwide toll free number which consumers could call for a pre-paid recycle bag to be mailed to their home. The company also hosted community collection events for Earth Day and America Recycles Day that recycled over 115,000 pounds of electronics. Finally, Nokia recycled over 750,000 pounds of e-waste at its various facilities, much of it collected through employee participation programs. Office Depot launched its Tech Recycling program in all Office Depot retail locations in October 2007. For a small fee consumers can purchase boxes to recycle their used computers, small televisions, peripherals, and other consumer electronics. Office Depot then sends the boxes on behalf of the consumer for recycling. The program captured over 77,000 pounds of electronics from the regional pilot phase and in the first two months of the nationwide rollout. "Office Depot is proud to partner with the EPA on a variety of environmental programs including Plug-In To eCycling. We recognize that as a leading global retailer we have the opportunity to provide our customers convenient solutions for their recycling needs, including cell phones and other electronics." -Robert Dunlap, Senior Merchant of Services, Office Depot Panasonic helped support 92 local collection events that recycled more than 2.5 million pounds of electronics. Samsung participates in the RBRC program that recycles cellular phone and portable rechargeable batteries. Through this program, it recycled 100,000 Metrics not yet available at the time of this publication. ------- pounds of its share of both products combined. Samsung has participated in local electronics collection events, collecting over 400,000 pounds of electronics and is currently finalizing a full scale national collection program for cell phones. Sharp supported over 100 events that collected and recycled 2.25 million pounds of electronic products. Sony launched its partnership with Waste Management to offer consumers opportunities to recycle their used electronics at permanent collection points across the country. Through this program over 15,000,000 pounds of electronics were recycled. Thus far, the program's footprint provides collection opportunities through its initial network of 75 collection points in 18 states. Sony aims to expand the program to all 50 states by late 2008. In addition, Sony offers consumers a trade-in program online and through its Sony Style stores. Sony Ericsson initiated its cell phone recycling program in November 2007 by sponsoring a takeback event in the City of Oaks, North Carolina that recycled over 6,000 pounds, collecting over 15,000 phones. Sony Ericsson will continue to sponsor collection events in 2008. Sprint recycled 3 million cell phones and accessories through its in-store and online recycling programs. "We're proud to partner with the EPA to help further raise awareness of the need to properly recycle wireless handsets and equipment, and through programs like Sprint Project Connect, to provide recycling channels—complete with postage-paid envelopes and an online mailing label—to make it quick and convenient for consumers to use." -Debby Ba/lard, Director of Community Relations, Sprint Staples launched its nationwide retail takeback program in May 2007 in its 1,400 stores across the U.S. Consumers can bring any brand of computer monitors, desktop and laptop computers, printers, scanners, all-in-ones and fax machines to the customer service desk for a $10 recycling fee. Small peripherals, such as keyboards, mice, modems and computer speakers, are accepted for free when recycling a larger item. Since launching the program, Staples has collected 1.7 million pounds of unwanted electronics. "The disposal of e-waste continues to be a major environmental challenge in this country. We know that many businesses and consumers want eco-friendly options, so we're helping them move from thinking about it to taking some action." -Mark Buckley, Vice President of Environmental Affairs, Staples, Inc. Toshiba helped recycle over 1.4 million pounds of electronics through supporting local collection events and via its online PC takeback and trade-in program. Wal-Mart helped sponsor 12 collection events across the U.S. with HP, collecting over 269,000 pounds of electronics for recycling. "In an effort to move our company toward its goals to create zero waste and to sell environmentally friendly products, we have hosted a number of e-waste recycling events at Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Clubs across the country. By hosting these events, we aim to increase our customers' awareness of eRecycling and to provide them with a convenient solution to recycle their old electronic items." -Seong Ohm, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, Office and Technology, Wal-Mart ------- ReCYCLE/f'£*" I, YOUR CELL PHONE Q/ COOy UCll Plug-In To eCycling has teamed up with leading cell phone makers, service providers and retailers to encourage Americans to recycle or donate unwanted cell phones. WHY? Despite the large number of manufacturer and retailer-led collection programs, most consumers still do not know where or how they can recycle their cell phones. Each year between 100-150 million cell phones are taken out of service. Cell phones are replaced every 18 months on average. Fewer than 20 percent of unwanted cell phones are recycled each year—most people store them at home, in a drawer somewhere. Reusing cell phones through donations or recycling cell phones by recovering their valuable materials reduces greenhouse gas emissions, saves energy, and conserves resources—mostly by reducing the amount of precious metals and copper that are mined for the manufacture of new phones. Promoting reuse and recycling of cell phones can be a start to changing the way consumers interact with other electronic products. In the case of electronics, consumers are reluctant to throw away products that were expensive to purchase. Through the Plug-In program, EPA is trying to give consumers options to "do the right thing" by fostering convenient product recycling programs and encouraging people to use them. To hrarn more, go lo www.epo.gov/cflltphimes Building a state program Consumers living close to urban and heavily populated regions in the U.S. often have more access to local eCycling opportunities than those living in rural areas. High transportation costs due to a lack of nearby electronics recycling infrastructure can impede ongoing eCycling programs from taking root in rural communities. In 2006, Montana's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), a state Plug-In To eCycling partner, worked with the program's industry partners to pilot its Rural Electronic Waste Recycling Program across the state, collecting more than 330,000 pounds of electronics from residents. In 2007, Montana's DEQ continued its efforts to foster more eCycling opportunities for households and recycled nearly 400,000 pounds. Cell Phone Takeback In-Store Locations AT&T Best Buy Nokia Office Depot Sprint Staples T-Mobile Online Mailback/Envelope Programs LG Electronics Sprint Motorola T-Mobile Nokia Samsung (details on takeback program forthcoming) ------- |