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2009 Plug-In Partner Accomplishments
Learn more about each partner’s program and accomplishments
Since the program began in 2003, Plug-In To eCycling partners* have recycled more than 360 million pounds of electronics, including televisions, computers and cell phones.
AT&T 
provides in-store take back of any brand of cell phone, smartphone, personal computer (PC) cards, batteries and accessories. They collect phones through their handset warranty program, and offer free prepaid shipping labels and prepaid mailing envelopes. AT&T offers free donation drive toolkits online, including templates for recycling bins and tips for cleansing old phones of data. Their volunteer organization, the AT&T Pioneers, supports community-based recycling drives across the country. AT&T partners with the Cell Phones for Soldiers charity, and works with the American Camp Association to share its recycling mission with more than two million children, tweens, and teens. In 2009, AT&T reused and recycled an estimated 4.2 million phones and recycled 1.7 million pounds of accessories and batteries.
Best Buy offers an In-Store Take Back Program, which encourages customers to bring up to two consumer electronic units per household per day to stores for recycling. Consumers pay $10 for recycling each TV, monitor and laptop, and in return, receive a $10 Best Buy gift card. All other items accepted through the program are free to the consumer. The program does not accept appliances, TVs larger than 32”, or console TVs of any size. All hard drives must be removed from laptops and desktops before they are accepted for recycling. In-Store Recycling Kiosks give customers and employees an opportunity to recycle cellular devices, ink cartridges, CDs, DVDs, and rechargeable batteries at no cost.
Through the TV Haul-Away Program, Best Buy will remove old or obsolete televisions at no charge from a consumer’s home when a new product is purchased and delivered. The Tech Trade In Mail In recycling program encourages customers to print mailing labels at home to send unwanted or end-of-life electronics to the recycler. All products collected are tested and evaluated for reuse and repair and may be removed from the recycling process. Household consumer products which are accepted within the programs include, but are not limited to: televisions, computers, computer monitors, peripherals, multi media projectors, printers, car audio, home audio, PDAs and hand-held devices, mobile electronics (GPS, cell phones, MP3 players), and various game systems. Best Buy collected over 60 million pounds of electronics in 2009.
Dell offers consumers free recycling for all its computers, printers, monitors, and peripheral items for free at Staples. Dell partners with Goodwill in over 2,000 locations nationwide for take back of all brands of its equipment. The “Residential Collection” efforts include a web request for home pickup of their Dell-branded product. The “Trade In/Trade Up” program encourages residential customers to get value from their old computers. Dell provides a donation option for used computers, where consumers can donate their computers to the National Cristina Foundation to help disadvantaged people in local communities. In 2009, Dell collected and recycled approximately 80 million pounds of residential used consumer electronics.
HH Gregg has partnered with Samsung to collect televisions and other electronics. In 2009, HH collected 39,791 pounds of consumer electronics.
HP has started a new consumer buy-back program, which covers IT equipment of any brand. Consumers can check online to find out how much cash they could receive for their equipment. The product reuse programs extend the useful life of equipment, especially at the end of leasing agreements when customers return products. The equipment is refurbished or remanufactured as appropriate, repackaged and resold. HP offers remarketed products for most of its product lines, and follows strict processes to protect user data and to meet environmental requirements.
HP provides free recycling for HP print cartridges. Customers can choose postage-paid return options online, including envelopes, bulk collection boxes, and printable labels. HP is piloting a retail recycling program in collaboration with Staples. Customers can return their used HP inkjet cartridge and LaserJet toner cartridges to over 1,500 Staples locations. The HP Consumer Buyback and Planet Partners Recycling Program accepts products of any brand manufacturer in the following product categories: desktop PCs, workstations, notebook PCs, tablet PCs, monitors—both CRT and LCD, printers—both ink and laser, scanners, digital cameras, PDAs, smartphones, handheld calculators, home media servers, digital picture frames, external hard drives, DVD drives, media receivers. In 2008, HP recycled 79.5 million pounds of consumer electronics, a 19% increase in annual recycling volume over 2007 levels.
iGo has partnered with Waste Management on a mail back program for consumer electronics, primarily device chargers and laptop computer chargers. In 2009, iGo collected 410 pounds of used consumer electronics from households.
LG Electronics partnered with Waste Management and Waste Management Recycle America (WMRA), to establish the LG Electronics Recycling Program. Waste Management provides collection, transportation, and recycling. There is no fee to consumers for LG-brand products; other brands will be accepted, but a fee may be charged. All brands of handheld devices (cellular phones, PDAs, and GPS units) are accepted at over 200 designated drop-off locations. LG Electronics and WMRA also host collection events where households may drop off any brand of consumer electronic product at a set location and time. These collection events have netted over 1.5 million pounds of household electronic waste.
Consumers may also mail their unwanted LG, Zenith, or GoldStar electronic products to any of the WMRA processing sites. Free mailing information is available on the LG eco-mobilization website. LG’s MobileComm division has worked with Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to pilot a fixed drop-off system where handheld devices may be deposited in heavy-duty bins at rail stations. In 2009, LG collected and processed 145,671 pounds of cell phones, a 400% increase from 2008. They collected 158,942 handsets and 2,148,874 pounds of all other consumer electronics.
NEC Display Solutions’ Total Trade Program, has been available to customers online since 2006. It assesses the value of a consumer’s used computer equipment towards the purchase of a new product. Total Trade offers individual consumers and businesses the opportunity to recycle their computers as part of an upgrade to new NEC Display Solutions displays.
Nokia offers free recycling of all brands of mobile devices, batteries, and Netbook 3G computers through the Nokia Recovery Program (NRP). Many forms of e-waste are accepted in community collections including computers, monitors, printers and televisions. Nokia plans recycling events in partnership with museums across the country as part of an educational film sponsorship for the movie, “Wild Ocean.” Consumers are encouraged to text the word “Ocean” to the number 334455 to receive information on recycling their retired devices. Nokia also publishes environmental information on all of its products. In 2009, Nokia recycled approximately 12,000 pounds of electronics.
Panasonic operates a National Voluntary take back program for its consumer electronic products. Program logistics are managed by Electronics Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (MRM) . Panasonic has partnered with Goodwill and Creative Recycling in 31 municipal and counties. In 2009, Panasonic collected over seven million pounds of consumer electronics.
Samsung collects televisions, monitors, cell phones, and other consumer electronic products that it manufactures. Samsung offers a free mail back option and over 200 locations for permanent drop off. In 2009, Samsung collected and recycled 12 million pounds of consumer electronics.
Sharp is one of three manufacturers to sign up for the Electronics Manufacturers Recycling Management Company’s (MRM) voluntary national recycling program. The program now consists of 390 locations where consumers can drop off their Sharp branded electronic products for free recycling. MRM has partnered with Goodwill Industries in some areas. Goodwill accepts all television brands in these locations and resells a limited number of newer units. MRM piloted storage centers to provide recycling opportunities in some locations. Sharp and other brands are recycled for free and the consumer receives a coupon which he/she brings to the storage location. In 2009, Sharp recycled over 1.2 million pounds through voluntary networks.
Sony has created a National Take Back Program, which consists of over 275 locations nationwide that provide free recycling its products. The Green Glove service delivers new televisions and takes back old ones, for a small fee. The GreenFill Program provides retailers a recycling kiosk for small to medium sized electronics, regardless of brand name. There are over 100 participating retailers and they have access to Sony’s national network of drop-off locations and audited recyclers. Sony collects household products such as televisions, DVD players, VCRs, receivers, speakers, car stereos, headphones, amplifiers, portable DVD players, game consoles, portable game consoles, blu-ray players, monitors, keyboards, mice, power adaptors, computer docking stations, laptops, all in ones, CPUs, printers, digital photo frames, cameras, camcorders, MP3 players, and alarm clocks. Sony is piloting a program in Vermont to encourage television recycling by supplying a Recycling Coupon. In 2009, Sony collected 2,822,162 pounds of consumer electronics from households through voluntary efforts.
Sony Ericsson has implemented a life cycle approach to product development that takes into account materials, design, supply chain, manufacturing, logistics, product use, and end-of-life treatment. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (SEMC) offers various opportunities for consumers to return their devices or accessories through a combination of take back programs that include Customer Service support to provide information to the end user, an on-line take back program which provides prepaid address labels, and through several free drop off recycling events. SEMC has partnerships established with its recycling suppliers. Net proceeds from the collected recycle items are donated to a variety of charitable organizations. In 2009, SEMC estimates it collected 12,000 pounds of electronic waste through these efforts.
Sprint offers free wireless reuse and recycling to consumers through voluntary take back programs. Sprint Buyback offers customers an account credit to return select Sprint and Nextel-branded devices. Sprint Project ConnectSM is a free service that accepts all retired wireless phones, batteries, accessories and data cards, regardless of carrier or condition. Free postage-paid envelopes are available at any Sprint-owned retail store or online, as well as in the box with most new devices. All net proceeds generated from the sale of equipment collected through Sprint Project Connect fund and promote free Internet safety resources for kids, parents, and educators. Sprint’s charitable partners include the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the NEA Health Information Network, and the Family Online Safety Institute.
Sprint adheres to a Zer0 E-Waste policy which ensures that none of the wireless equipment collected enters the general waste stream (i.e., landfills or waste incinerators). All of Sprint&3146;s refurbishing and recycling vendors are contractually obligated to follow this policy and are regularly audited by Sprint to ensure compliance. Sprint Reverse Logistics refurbishes, salvages, and reuses as many of the original parts as economically feasible. In 2009, Sprint collected 1,095,177 pounds of mobile phones and wireless accessories.
Staples offers free recycling of cell phones, PDAs, and rechargeable batteries at any of their 1500 stores throughout the country. For a $10 fee, customers can recycle their unwanted computers, laptops, printers, scanners, faxes, all-in-ones, CRT monitors, and LCD monitors. Computer peripherals such as keyboards, mice, speakers and modems can be recycled for free with larger items at any Staples store. Additionally, Staples offers free in-store collection of empty ink and toner cartridges, recycling over 24 million cartridges. Periodically, Staples sponsors electronics collection events. Items collected in the recycling programs are first evaluated for reuse and then recycled if they are found be at the end of their useful life. In 2009, Staples collected seven million pounds of consumer electronics.
For additional information on Plug-In to eCycling, please contact orcrplugin@epa.gov.
*A Plug-In to eCycling partnership does not constitute an EPA endorsement of the products or services of our program partners.