i3 - January/February 2016 - 79

Policy

BY ELLIOT GRIMM

G R E E N P O L I CY
COMPANIES TO WATCH IN THE E-CYCLING MOVEMENT

As

states
continue to
lobby companies to do more on
ecycling, many brands
have stepped up and
established programs
that make it as easy and
simple for consumers to
recycle their old devices
as it is to purchase new
ones. This all comes at
a time when Americans
place high values on
electronics recycling.
A recent study by the
Consumer Technology
Association (CTA)™
showed that 82 percent
of Americans regard
recycling as important or
very important to them.
To help promote the importance of electronics recycling,
several retailers and manufacturers have produced easy and
convenient consumer-friendly
recycling options. For instance,
Samsung now provides prepaid shipping labels for large
and small devices, from TVs
to printer toner. In 2014, the
Samsung Recycling Direct
program helped communities
recycle more than 114 million
pounds of materials across
the U.S. through its various
recycling locations. And, in
March, Samsung partnered
with the Boys & Girls Clubs of
America (BGCA) on a national
campaign to improve young
C TA . t e c h / i 3

Allison Schumacher, CTA, with industry representatives and Hawaiian
legislators at Honolulu recycling collection event on October 17, 2015.

people's understanding and
appreciation of environmental
issues like ecycling.
Retailers such as Best Buy
have also been playing a key
role in the industry's ecycling
efforts for years. Since establishing its ecycling program in
2008, Best Buy has recycled
more electronics and appliances on behalf of American
consumers than any other
retailer. Over the past six
years, Best Buy has recycled
more than one billion pounds
of electronics-and it's aiming
to collect an additional two
billion pounds by 2020.
Similar industry efforts are
also well-deserving of mention.
Dell has a nationwide partnership with Goodwill that provides more than 2,000 places
for consumers to recycle old
computer equipment responsibly. DIRECTV has taken an
active role in promoting high

recycling standards, especially
in Latin America, educating recyclers on the benefits
of certification and working
diligently to get more vendors
certified. Hewlett-Packard
offers multiple no-cost options
for recycling their products at
the end of life. Toshiba, Sharp
and Panasonic have collected
thousands of tons of products
for recycling and have held
community events that boost
collection totals and increase
ecycling awareness.
For example, last October in
Hawaii CTA teamed up with LG
and Electronics Recyclers International to support an annual
recycling event where Hawaiian residents could recycle
unwanted consumer electronics
free of charge. The event collected more than two truckloads
of products ranging from TV's,
cell phones and computers. The
enormous success of the event

was due to active collaboration
of industry, the local community
and the support of community
leaders, including members
of the Hawaii legislature and
Honolulu City Council who
volunteered at the event and
discussed the importance of
ecycling.
In addition, the rapid pace
of innovation within the consumer technology industry has
helped make consumer electronics the fastest-declining
portion of the U.S. municipal
solid waste stream according
to U.S. EPA, the direct result of
products that are lighter and
use less materials.
The overall environmental
footprint of the CE industry is shrinking due to these
combined industry efforts.
The "Sustainability and
the Consumer Technology
Industry" conference session
at CES 2016 will discuss how
sustainability issues drive
business decisions in the CE
industry.

Visit CTA.tech for the
Consumer Technology
Association's 2015
Sustainability Report,
where you can get an
in-depth look at all the
latest industry efforts
towards a healthy and
sustainable future.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

79

http://www.Bestbuy.com http://www.hp.com http://www.toshiba.com http://www.sharp.com http://www.panasonic.com http://CTA.tech http://www.lg.com http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/citizenship/usactivities/environmentalinitiatives/recyclingdirect/ http://electronicrecyclers.com/ http://electronicrecyclers.com/ http://www.samsung.com http://www.bgca.org/Pages/index.aspx http://www.bgca.org/Pages/index.aspx http://www.DIRECTV.com http://CTA.tech/i3

i3 - January/February 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - January/February 2016