Now it pays to recycle your electronic waste (e-waste) thanks to ecoATM™.  The ecoATM™ is a self-serve automated eCycling station that assesses value for used portable consumer electronics and mobile phones for trade-in/trade-up and recycling.   Installed at a retailer, it appraises your electronic device and gives you dollars toward trade-in promotions, coupons, store credits, gift cards or you can even convert its value to a charitable contribution.

Last month, ecoATM™ installed their first Automated eCycling Station for e-waste recycling at Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha.  23 mobile phones were recycled on the first day and if it keeps up with that pace, one ecoATM™ would be on track to recycle 8,395 mobile phones in the first year.  Wow.  Imagine the impact of just one ecoATM™ in every US state - it could result in recycling over 400,000 mobile phones.

“The ecoATM™ makes it easy and convenient for our customers to trade-in and recycle their used mobile phones,” said Jay Buchanan, Electronics Division Director, Nebraska Furniture Mart. “This benefits both our customers and the environment.”  ecoATM™ CEO Mark Bowles said “We are extremely pleased with the initial results and consumers’ delight with the system, ecoATM™’s solution finally makes it easy for consumers to give their used phones a second life or to recycle them. Over 100 million used, but still valuable phones, are quietly retired to closets and drawers each year in the US where they decay into zero value and then enter our landfills years later. Our automated ecoATM™ provides consumers and retailers an easy, convenient, incentivized method to convert those devices into real money instead of toxic waste.”

What’s the process for the user?  According to the ecoATM™ website, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3:
Step 1) Insert portable CE device or handset
Step 2) Used device automatically valued
Step 3) Portables automatically binned inside.  User receives trade-up coupon, gift card, and/or charitable contribution

Not only does this help reduce e-waste, but you get reward dollars or you can simply donate to charity.  I hope the ecoATM™ concept takes flight and they are accessible at many retailers so consumers have a convenient solution for their e-waste that benefits the environment and provides financial incentives.  ecoATM™ plans to launch additional eCycling Stations with several national retailers over the next quarter in San Diego, Boston, Dallas, and Seattle.  San Diego’s CONNECT organization announced ecoATM™ as a contender and finalist for the Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Awards.  The CONNECT MIP Awards are for regional innovation and they will announce the winners in December.  Good luck!

The ecoATM™ makes recycling your obsolete electronics easy, plus you get rewarded once your device is evaluated.  I look forward to the ecoATM™ coming soon to a retailer nearby – it’s an incentive-based way to recycle.  Now you can live a greener lifestyle and get a little payback for it.

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Tags: automated eCycling station, cell phones, CONNECT organization, e-waste, e-waste solutions, ecoATM, eCycling, eCycling stations, electronic waste, greener lifestyle, landfill waste, landfills, mobile phone, Nebraska Furniture Mart, planet forward, recycle, recycle electronics, recycle mobile phones, Recycling, recycling depot, recycling mobile phones, recycling station, reduce eWaste, reduce waste, sustainable solutions, toxic waste, ways to recycle

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