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Sprint Project Connect is a free wireless recycling service for anyone who has wireless phones, batteries, accessories and connection cards that they no longer use. All makes and models are accepted, regardless of condition or service provider. One-hundred percent of the net proceeds generated by Sprint Project Connect go help to keep kids safe online through Sprint's 4NetSafety program in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the NEA Health Information Network, and others.
Anyone can recycle their wireless phones, batteries, accessories and connection cards with Sprint Project Connect, regardless of make, model, condition or service provider.
Pick up a free, postage-paid envelope at any participating Sprint store nationwide. Or, print the free, postage-paid mailing label available on this site.
First and foremost, Sprint Project Connect is a wireless recycling program. It is available as a free service to anyone who has wireless phones, batteries, accessories and connection cards that they no longer need. The primary goal is to help keep the environment clean by keeping this equipment out of the waste stream. As an additional benefit, Sprint Project Connect generates net proceeds that are used for charitable purposes. 'Net proceeds' is defined as the program's total revenue minus its operational and promotional expenses (for example, the cost of printing recycling envelopes; postage for envelopes returned with equipment; vendor fees for receiving the equipment, removing personal data from the phones, and refurbishing and reselling or recycling them; collateral for promoting the program and educating the public on its benefits; etc.). Sprint donates 100% of the net proceeds to fund our 4NetSafety program in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the NEA Health Information Network, and others to help keep kids safer online.
Phones are tested and sorted according to their condition. Most are refurbished for reuse or resale. Those that cannot be refurbished have useful components that can be used to repair other handsets or to create common products such as jewelry, automotive bumpers, and battery packs.
We recommend that you deactivate the service on your phone and erase all personal information before recycling it with Sprint Project Connect. Click here for access to a free tool that will help you to remove that data from your phone. Sprint takes reasonable efforts to remove any remaining personal information from phones collected through the program before they are refurbished for reuse or resale. However, to fully protect your privacy it's best if you remove personal information yourself before contributing the phone.
Yes. Just print the free, postage-paid shipping label, affix it to your box shipment, and mail us your wireless phones, batteries, accessories and connection cards. Also, Sprint can help you establish an employee collection drive. For further information, contact projectconnect@sprint.com.
If you recycle your phone with Sprint Project Connect you will not receive a payment or credit. However, if you are a Sprint customer, Sprint may offer to buy back your Sprint PCS or Nextel phone through a separate program called Sprint Buyback.
Your contribution is not tax deductible. However, it provides two important benefits: 1) You're protecting the environment through recycling; and, 2) all of the net proceeds from Sprint Project Connect are used to help protect kids online.
The Internet is an amazing resource, but there are potential risks for kids online. Teenagers and “tweens” (ages 9-14) often spend a lot of time online and interacting with others through their computers or wireless phones. They are likely to encounter situations that require sound judgment and the ability to make safe, informed decisions. For example, studies have found:
Sprint is committed to providing resources for kids, teachers, parents and guardians - resources that help kids to make smart, safer decisions online.
1 “Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later” survey sponsored by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® and conducted by Crimes Against Children Research Center at the Univ. of New Hampshire between March and June of 2005.
2 Hinduja, S. and Patchin, J. W. (2005). Research summary: Cyberbullying victimization. Preliminary findings from an online survey of approximately 1,500 Internet-using adolescents (http://www.cyberbullying.us).