MILWAUKEE—Telkonet, Inc., developer of the EcoSmart energy management platform and a leading provider of Internet services for the hospitality industry, announced that it has established an e-waste Take-Back Recycling program for all of its legacy products to assist its customers with the responsible disposal of used electronics equipment.
According to Telkonet, it is committed to promoting sustainability and actively pursues and implements policies, programs and practices designed to minimize and mitigate corporate environmental impact by producing products that are designed and manufactured to meet or exceed the world’s most stringent environmental requirements. Telkonet extends that core value, and attempts to deal with the increasing amounts of electronic waste, also known as e-waste, through its customers as well.
The EPA estimated that in 2007, the United States generated more than 3 million tons of e-waste. But only 13.6 percent of that was collected for recycling. The other 86.4 percent went to landfills and incinerators, despite the fact that many of these products include hazardous chemicals and heavy metals, like lead, mercury and cadmium, which can leach out of landfills into groundwater and streams. Also, burning the plastics in electronics can emit dioxin.
Jason Tienor, president and CEO of Telkonet, said that the Take-Back Recycling program was designed to make it easier for Telkonet customers to recycle, while supporting Telkonet’s goal of reducing the environmental impact of its own products. He went on to say: “Recycling conserves resources, reduces environment impact and makes good business sense. To promote participation, we’ve designed our Take-Back recycling program to be very simple—if we made it or sold it, we’ll accept it back and dispose of it properly. During the months of May and June 2011, all products returned to Telkonet will be recycled for free and receive a credit towards upgrading to new EcoSmart equipment.”
Telkonet will accept for recycling any previously sold equipment (branded as Telkonet, EthoStream, or SmartSystems International), which includes energy management and networking equipment such as thermostats, controllers, sensors, switches, access points, network infrastructure equipment and accessories.
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