Mobile Electronics Have Life Cycle Options
January 2015 – At Pepcom co-located with CES 2015 and also at the main show – there was a dominance of smart phones in the hands of the over 100,000 attendees. The show itself is odd in that it both accessories and obsoletes the handset technology owned by the attendees. This problem of obsolescence of mobile electronics is a major issue in the planning of the products and currently impacts the materials used in the design.
Trash and Recycling bins at Target
The value of these devices once a new model is out has been commoditized to the point that disposing of the devices is a landfill issue like empty water and soda bottles. The turnover is so high that stores like Target, have had to add a recycling bin next to the garbage and bottle collection just to deal with the volume.
To address this issue in a more practical method, just like bottles and cans, a recycling kiosk has been created for the mobile phones. These devices still have value in the supply chain, even though the current user may be tired of the device. In working order, the device can be resold after being reset and cleared of content, and in non-working order, there are components that can be collected for reuse, keeping these parts out of the landfill.
ecoATM mobile phone recycling Kiosk
ecoATM is an automated kiosk to address this option of recovering value for the supply chain from the products and returning a “recycling fee” to the owner, rather than throwing in into the e-waste bin at the store. The unit is a smart testing station that does both a visual check of the condition of the phone being recycled and an electrical test to verify the working condition of the phone. Prior to recycling the phone, the machine clears the content of the phone.
The kiosks are being installed nationwide, with the initial installations in the northern California area. The ecoATM machines evaluate the phones, and then check the fair market pricing for the used phones in the condition presented and return a recycling value to the user. While some older phones do not return huge amounts of money for the recycling fee, it is still better than throwing the phone into a trash bin, an e-waste container or having to pay to dispose of the phone & battery.
This kiosk solution is bringing convenience and raising the awareness of the need for eco-responsibility on the commodity mobile devices while returning some value to the owner of the product being recycled.
