FRAMINGHAM – Today, March 30, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized Framingham-based Staples, Inc for its efforts to reduce electronic waste and increase its reuse and recycling.
The company was among nine winners of EPA’s 2020 Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Electronics Challenge Awards, which encourages electronics manufacturers, brand owners, and retailers to send 100 percent of the used electronics they collect to third-party certified electronics refurbishers and recyclers.
This year Staples, Inc. received EPA’s Gold Tier Award for the seventh time. This award is presented to organizations with exemplary electronics collection and recycling programs.
The 2020 award winners reused or recycled 176,494 tons of electronics and avoided the equivalent of nearly 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
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“The innovation and environmental leadership shown by these companies is outstanding,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The Electronics Challenge award winners are corporate role models creating new products that show environmental improvement can go hand-in-hand with other technological advances. EPA encourages others to follow their lead by implementing similar innovative approaches.”
“EPA is proud to recognize Staples, Inc. once again for being one of the electronic industry’s leaders in reuse and recyling of old electronics, which might otherwise end up in landfills,” said EPA New England Acting Regional Administrator Deborah Szaro. “Staples’ efforts throughout the years on a national level have contributed greatly to reducing the environmental impacts of electronic products.”
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The use of electronic products has grown exponentially over the past two decades, changing the way people communicate and more recently, how they stay in touch during the pandemic. Reusing and recycling reduces environmental impacts, including those from climate change, throughout the life cycle of electronics, while also creating green jobs. Staples, Inc. was recognized for its in-store recycling program which accepts a variety of electronics for recycling and offers rewards for recycling certain items.
The other winners of this top-level Gold Tier Award were Dell Technologies; LG Electronics USA, Inc.; Samsung Electronics; Sony Electronics; TCL North America; T-Mobile; VIZIO, Inc.; and Xerox Corporation.
Since 2012, EPA has been recognizing leading electronics manufacturers, brand owners, and retailers for their significant contributions in electronics sustainability as part of the SMM Electronics Challenge. This year the Agency is honoring three categories of winners with its Gold Tier Awards, Champion Awards, and a Special Award for participants who made significant contributions during the pandemic.
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