The EPA estimates about 90 percent of cell phones end up in landfills or are disposed of improperly, posing potential harm to the environment.
Since 2008, T-Mobile has been bringing customers together to take positive action and help the environment with our handset and accessory recycling program. Anyone can drop off a cell phone (any make, model or carrier), batteries, accessories or netbooks at any T-Mobile retail location in the U.S and have it recycled free of charge. Also, cell phone collection bins have been placed at Bellevue, Wash., colleges, city offices and T-Mobile’s corporate campus for convenient drop-off.
Since the program began, we have recycled more than 950,000 cell phones, and the benefits are substantial. Because cell phones contain precious metals, recycling not only conserves these materials, but also helps prevent pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that for every 1 million cell phones recycled, 35,284 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered. In addition, T-Mobile has saved enough energy to power more than 185 U.S. households with electricity for a year. By 2014, T-Mobile’s goal is to recycle at least 1 million cell phones per year.
Today, we’re excited to share that earlier this week, T-Mobile was selected as the winner of a Supply Chain Distinction Award, in the Green Supply Chain category, from Supply Chain Logistics 2012 North America. The award recognizes companies whose supply chain and logistics strategies have produced return on investment through reduced energy and fuel consumption, water usage, waste output, and/or carbon footprint.
In addition, T-Mobile was a 2012 Green Award recipient from Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine, which recognized companies that make green or sustainability a core part of their supply chain strategy and work to achieve measurable sustainability goals within their own operations and supply chains, in the areas of Sourcing/Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Operations and Product Lifecycle Management, among others.
Flavio Rossi is responsible for all aspects of T-Mobile USA’s indirect and device procurement, planning, fulfillment, forward and reverse logistics, repair, product management for device insurance and equipment financing plans, procurement policy and compliance.