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Motorola Mobility operates take-back programs on our own and in partnership with carriers, customers, retailers and recyclers.

We support the concept of individual producer responsibility. For us to meet our own responsibilities, we need others, such as consumers and retailers, to return obsolete electronics equipment for responsible recycling. Electronic equipment can pose a threat to the environment if disposed of incorrectly.

By law, we are required to take back and recycle our products in 30 countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area. Our commitment goes beyond legislation and has worldwide reach. We offer programs for mobile phones in 70 countries, covering more than 90 percent of our global mobile phone unit sales. Our take-back programs accept any mobile phone or accessory (not only our products). Some phones are refurbished for reuse and then sent to developing countries where they are sold at a low price, helping to boost access to communications.

In the U.S., we have expanded our programs to include other devices such as cordless phones, modems and routers. Set-tops and modems have extended lifecycles as they can be used by more than one customer. If a user upgrades to the latest model or cancels a subscription, the product is normally refurbished by Motorola Mobility or our customer and fitted with the latest software. It can then be leased to a new subscriber, extending the life of the set-top or modem by two to three years.

Our designers aim to extend the useful life of a set-top by considering the following four areas:

  • Forward-looking features: Include a rich set of features to meet current and future needs and aim to meet future standards
  • Higher quality: Design for reliability using higher-grade materials
  • Upgradability: Ensure memory, storage, processors, software and network connections can be upgraded
  • Serviceability: Use modular design to enable parts to be replaced and ensure spare parts are readily available

We seek to design our products to be easily recycled. Many used phones are still in good condition and can be refurbished. Those that cannot be reused can be recycled, which reduces waste and the use of raw materials to make new phones. Our mobile phones meet or exceed the European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive recyclability target of 65 percent.

Encouraging handset returns

The success of our mobile phone reuse and recycling program directly hinges on consumer participation. For this reason, we work to increase the number of people who recycle their mobile phones and accessories by:

  • Enclosing prepaid return envelopes with new products
  • Providing prepaid postage labels on our website
  • Holding electronics collection events at our facilities for employees and local communities
  • Offering periodic incentives such as product discounts
  • Participating with governments and other companies in take-back events and promotions
  • Placing collection containers in our service centers
  • Partnering with industry and communities in programs such as Mobile Muster in Australia, Green Box in China, Plug in to eCycling in the U.S. and Recycle My Cell in Canada

In 2010, we collected more than 3,904 tonnes of electronic equipment waste for recycling, about a 24 percent decrease from 2009.

This includes:

1. Take-back programs, both regulated and voluntary
2. Internal electronics recycling efforts
3. External electronics recycling events sponsored by Motorola

Our figures do not include electronics recycled through other industry, partnership or carrier programs.

Our 2010, take-back rate for mobile phones sold in 2008 was an estimated 3 percent. While we recognize that this is a small proportion of the total we sell, we are pleased that many consumers are handing back their phones through other channels.

Awareness and incentives programs

We encourage people to return their mobile phones by participating in awareness initiatives. We also encourage our employees to recycle their mobile phones by providing recycling envelopes and collection boxes at our sites and advertising through our internal employee news channels.

During our Global Day of Service we also held community and employee electronics take-back events at our Arlington Heights, Horsham, Libertyville, San Diego, and Schaumburg sites. We organized community take-back events in China through Green Box, the recycling partnership involving Motorola Mobility, China Mobile and Nokia.

In 2010, we participated in the following recycling activities around the world:

Brazil

In Brazil, we expanded the number of Motorola Mobility branded collection points in Walmart stores nationwide, bringing the total to 67.

India

In India, we installed collection bins at 63 retailers throughout the country.

Mexico

In Mexico, we launched a campaign with the government of Cuautla, Morelos to encourage people to hand in their used electronic equipment. The government placed six containers at busy locations around the city for people to hand in their batteries, cell phones, two-way radios and wired and wireless telephones. We are responsible for emptying the containers and ensuring the equipment is recycled or disposed of responsibly. Using our experience of the pilot project we plan to launch a national take-back campaign in Mexico.

Singapore

In Singapore, we participated in Recycling Week organized by the National Environmental Agency (NEA) to raise public awareness about the importance of electronics recycling. As well as setting up recycling stations at NEA events, we also set up booths in two shopping malls during World Environment Day to promote e-waste recycling. We installed collection points at a school and at the American Embassy. Our employees promoted our take-back programs to around 5,000 people and collected more than 80 phones and accessories.

United States

In the United States, we hosted our 11th Community Electronics Recycling Event on 9 October, in partnership with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Supply-Chain Services. Approximately 540 employees and community members participated to recycle an estimated 32 tonnes of electronics. We promoted safe driving at the event by awarding Bluetooth headsets to every 50th car attending the day. Over the last 11 years we have collected 850 tonnes of electronics waste through the event.