Since its launch in April 2011, Sims Recycling Solutions’ Web Returns service has expanded from a product mail back recycling program servicing one state and receiving fewer than 200 shipments per year to a nationwide service receiving more than 3,400 shipments in 2013. Under New York’s Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, which went into effect in April 2011, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of certain types of equipment are required to meet annual quantitative weight obligations. These obligations require OEMs to offer at least one reasonably convenient method of collection to New York consumers in each county and municipality with a population of 10,000 or greater. With 63 counties and more than 230 municipalities exceeding the 10,000 person threshold, many OEMs reached out to Sims Recycling Solutions to develop cost-effective mechanisms to meet this collection challenge.
In response to the service demand, Sims Recycling Solutions developed their Web Returns service to help OEMs provide consumers with a convenient online mail-back recycling option. The way the program works is consumers can go online, choose the type of product(s) they wish to send for recycling and enter their contact and shipping information so they can receive a printable prepaid shipping label to deliver their product(s) to be responsibly recycled. This process is fully automated and set up to be quick, easy, and comparable to an online consumer shopping experience.
While consumers are responsible for packaging the equipment to be sent for recycling, Sims makes it easy by providing safe-packaging instructions along with drop off locations prior to receipt of the printable prepaid shipping label. Each shipping label is bar coded and contains multiple tracking numbers generated by Sims’ internal inventory system so upon arrival at a Sims facility, a quick scan of the shipping label barcode provides detail on what state the material came from, which OEM web returns program generated the label, and how the material should be processed.
The types of products accepted are determined by what is required under a state take back law or an OEM customer’s preference. The service can accept items or packages weighing up to 70 pounds and consumers can ship up to 10 items per day. There is no geographic limitation for service in the United States. With the success of the U.S. Web Returns service over the past three years, Sims recently created a similar program with Canada Post to provide countrywide OEM-sponsored Web Returns services in Canada. To learn more about our Web Returns service contact us at [email protected].
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