Revenue Recovery and Recycling are Essential to Device Management Policies
By 2016, the tablet to student ratio is estimated to reach 1:1. This movement is predicted to drastically improve education, but without an end-of-life management plan in place, it could cause catastrophic harm to the environment.
There are currently 55.2 million students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade in the United States. If each student is given one device and it is replaced every three years, each student will use 4.3 devices during their 13-year education. In all, that’s 237.5 million devices being utilized by students.
Unfortunately, 60% of school technology coordinators don’t have an end-of-life management plan, according to FundingFactory. Without a plan, these devices will either collect dust in a closet or be thrown into a landfill. The result is a loss of potential revenue and an abundance of pollution in the environment.
Educational institutions that don’t sell their devices to a responsible recycler are forfeiting a huge opportunity to put money back into their budgets. If only one device per student was recycled, schools could recover approximately $331 million.
In addition to the monetary incentive, it’s necessary to recycle mobile devices in order to protect the environment and future generations. Cell phones and tablets contain toxic metals including lead, mercury and cadmium. These toxins can leak into the groundwater and cause detrimental damage to the environment if they are not properly recycled.
Meeting the predicted surge of devices in the education sector with a solid end-of-life management plan is essential to protecting the environment. To ensure you recoup the maximum value of your mobile devices and that your end-of-life devices are not sent to a landfill, develop a plan that includes partnering with an e-Stewards recycler. The e-Stewards certification is the most stringent and globally recognized standard for electronic recyclers.
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e-Cycle is the trusted wireless partner for many of the largest organizations in the world. As the first mobile recycling company to achieve e-Stewards certification, we adhere to the highest standards for environmental responsibility and worker health and safety. e-Cycle offers a simple, secure, environmentally responsible and profitable way for businesses to sell and recycle used mobile phones and tablets. Learn more at www.e-Cycle.com.
Take your iPhone for instance. When you first get it, you love its new features, how fast it is, and all the upgrades over your previous version. But, eventually, the commercials for the next smartphone will sprout up (such as the introduction of phones with 4G capabilities), leaving you pining for the next big thing.