Fighting e-waste one cell phone at a time

24.11.2008

25,000 handsets every day is a lot. How do you process them?

We have more than 400 employees here that use an automated processing system to test which phones are still usable and which ones aren't. It's definitely an improvement from when I started working here five years ago when we literally just had a big table where phones would get dumped on and sorted manually.

What is your primary target market for selling used phones?

There is a surprisingly large market for used phones domestically. A lot of consumers don't want to sign two-year contracts with carriers and this is a great alternative to having to pay hundreds of dollars for new phones. We also have significant markets around the world, including Asia and Latin America.

Can you talk a bit about the program you've developed to help enterprise users safely dispose of their mobile devices?