Electronics manufacturer TCL will support e-scrap collection events in four states next month, each using a unique reservation-based, contactless collection strategy.
The OEM announced it will launch the TCL Take-Back Tour starting on Nov. 14, the weekend of America Recycles Day (Nov. 15). The tour will include free recycling events in Arkansas, California, Colorado and Florida.
The brand owner is working with Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (MRM), nationwide e-scrap processor ERI and others to provide the events.
Residents must reserve times online to drop off material. TCL and its partners first used that collection strategy in July in the Denver area, where 280 reservations were booked in under 24 hours and 12 tons of electronics were collected.
During an E-Scrap Virtual session on Oct. 1, Jonathan King, vice president of corporate and legal affairs for TCL, said consumers just drive up and pop their trunks, at which point collection workers gather the material. The strategy is efficient and avoids person-to-person contact during the pandemic.
“What we find is we can get more people through there, we can get increased participation and we can keep everyone safe at the same time,” King said.
TCL really likes collection events, which provide an opportunity to educate consumers on the importance of electronics recycling, he said. For America Recyclers Day, “we’re going with multiple events in one day, and we think that that’s going to be the way we’re going to go about it for the rest of the pandemic,” King said.
TCL supported the recycling of over 20 million pounds of electronics through the first nine months of 2020, according to the press release.
