Capstone Wireless, e-Stewards in LH
Most Americans are aware of it, but the extent to which they fully understand it is debatable.
As a whole, our country has become quite accustomed to expecting the latest, greatest advances in technology and digital markets.
Having these items at our fingertips, however, creates a lingering problem.
What do we do with the tons of e-waste generated every year in our county?
"Going Green" is a familiar catch phrase - being responsible by reducing, reusing and recycling. Many of us are familiar with the slogan and feel like we do your part to responsibly recycle.
But where do used cell phones, and other forms of e-waste, really end up?
Capstone Wireless, a locally-owned Lake Highlands business with a team of professionals from the wireless industry, is able to answer this question definitively.
"The biggest part of this equation is education," says Capstone Wireless founder, president and LH resident, Joel Urano. "Green talk is great for local recycling initiatives, but people have to do their homework and ask the right questions."
For a little background on Capstone, it's important to understand their mission and business practices.
Capstone was founded in 2005, originally as an indirect channel partner selling voice and data services to government agencies and businesses. Looking for a niche in the market, by 2006 they were buying back old phones and smartphones from their clients.
"What started as a way to fund our customers' new equipment rollouts," explains Urano, "quickly caught on as an environmentally sound option for businesses looking to reduce their cellular expenses."
Stever Whitaker, Director of Sales for Capstone, illustrates the environmental ramifications by posing the following question:
"If we were to genuinely understand the environmental ramifications for every piece of technology our country utilizes, what would that look like?"
"The answers that grew from this question completely transformed our company, our mission and our drive," explains Whitaker.
As it relates to the cellular industry, Capstone Wireless helps businesses reduce their e-waste, while improving their return-on-investment by buying clients' old phones, determining which units are capable of being re-used, and returning them to the market.
"If a device can be re-used, whether for parts like cameras, switches or face plates for example," says Whitaker, "then we harvest those working parts, re-tool the phone, and are able to return it to the marketplace."
"With over 130 million phones reaching what's termed 'end of life' in the United States each year, it adds up extremely quickly," he says. "While working cell phones represent an opportunity for re-use, units that can't be re-used need to be recycled properly."
