WILMINGTON, N.C., May 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2010, Verizon set
a goal to collect 2 million pounds – or 1,000 tons – of electronic
waste in communities it serves by the end of 2015. That five-year
goal was achieved today, eight months ahead of schedule, during
Verizon's e-waste recycling rally in Wilmington, as area residents, businesses and
Verizon employees safely disposed of tens of thousands of pounds of
unwanted computer hardware, TVs and small appliances.
The 2 million pounds collected for recycling over the past five
years is equal to the weight of 500 average cars, or roughly 50,000
cathode ray tube computer screens.
"The city of Wilmington, its
citizens and its business community share Verizon's commitments to
protecting the environment and preserving the natural resources
that sustain our way of life," said Mayor Bill Saffo. "So it's fitting that Wilmington is the city that helps Verizon
reach its goal of responsibly recycling 2 million pounds of
electronic waste. I congratulate Verizon and commend the people of
Wilmington."
(See photo gallery of e-Waste collection and
the Mayor at Verizon Recycling Rally.)
Verizon immediately set a new e-waste goal: recycling another 2
million pounds of e-waste by 2020.
Inappropriate e-waste disposal in landfills can cause the
electronic devices' toxic materials – such as lead, arsenic,
beryllium and mercury – to leach into the environment, posing a
potential threat to the ecosystem. Thanks to the Wilmington community's participation, Verizon
has collected and kept from entering landfills roughly 200,000
pounds of electronic waste in the area to date – equivalent to the
weight of more than 9,000 desktop computers.
"Volunteers from our 18,000-member employee Verizon Green Team
worked with Wilmington community
members on a milestone achievement today," said James Gowen, chief
sustainability officer for Verizon. "The recycling rally helped
reach Verizon's goal of collecting and keeping 2 million pounds of
e-waste out of landfills – months ahead of schedule. But as
environmental stewards, we won't stop hiking the path of
sustainability. That's why we've already set our next five-year
goal to collect another 2 million pounds of electronic waste by
2020."
Since 2009, Verizon has hosted recycling rallies in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New
Jersey, New Mexico,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South
Carolina, Texas,
Utah and Virginia.
Verizon adheres to a zero-landfill objective for e-waste. All
materials it collects are reused or recycled so they do not end up
in a landfill. The recycling rallies also benefit Verizon's
HopeLine program, which diverts working mobile phones from
landfills and donates them to domestic violence prevention and
support organizations. Over 9 million wireless phones have been
collected through the program since 2001.
Verizon's Commitment to the Environment and
Sustainability
Verizon has long focused on energy efficiency and instituting
sustainable real estate practices. On April
6, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized
Verizon with a 2015 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained
Excellence Award for its continued leadership in protecting the
environment through superior energy-efficiency achievements. This
is the third consecutive year that Verizon has received a Partner
of the Year honor from the U.S. EPA.
Verizon seeks ENERGY STAR certification for all eligible Verizon
Wireless retail stores and other company facilities that meet the
U.S. EPA's standards for energy efficiency and reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions. In all, 193 Verizon facilities earned
ENERGY STAR certification by the end of 2014 – 177 Verizon Wireless
retail stores and 16 other Verizon facilities across the United States.
Over the past two years, the company has invested $137 million to build on-site green energy
generating systems, including solar and fuel cells, to help power
its networks and data centers — equivalent to 2,700 homes'
electricity for a year — eliminating 20,000 metric tons of CO2.
Verizon's smart solutions for our customers help them to better
manage their buildings and vehicle fleets, operate power grids, and
support telecommuting to decrease the impact of vehicle commuting.
According to an Accenture study, these solutions reduced CO2
emissions by 13 million to 17 million metric tons in 2014 – equal
to taking 3 million cars off the road.
Verizon is also using its own Networkfleet telematics product
for vehicle fleet management. With this system, companies can keep
a closer eye on engine performance and help employees to use their
vehicles more efficiently. By the end of 2014, Verizon had equipped
28,575 vehicles in its fleet with Networkfleet or a similar
third-party solution. Year by year, Verizon is consuming less
gasoline. The 34.3 million gallons Verizon vehicles consumed in
2014 was almost 25 percent less than the company's fuel consumption
in 2010 (45.2 million gallons).
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in
New York, is a global leader in
delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications
services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.
Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network,
with 108.6 million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also
provides converged communications, information and entertainment
services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and
delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide. A
Dow 30 company with more than $127
billion in 2014 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse
workforce of 176,200. For more information, visit
www.verizon.com/news/.
VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive
speeches and biographies, media contacts and other information are
available at Verizon's online News Center at
www.verizon.com/news/. The news releases are
available through an RSS feed. To subscribe, visit
www.verizon.com/about/rss-feeds/.
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SOURCE Verizon