Product Responsibility

Two of Sprint’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives relate to our products and services — making these offerings more environmentally friendly and enabling our customers to reduce their environmental impact through our products and services. In May 2009, Sprint announced its first direct action in this area by offering a basic set of eco-friendly accessories as part of its product line-up. Sprint significantly expanded its actions in August 2009 by launching the most advanced eco-friendly mobile phone in the United States as well as a set of environmental design objectives for future devices and accessories. Sprint is the first U.S. wireless provider to launch a sustainable product-development process.

Samsung Reclaim

The Samsung Reclaim™ is Sprint’s first eco-friendly phone with a vibrant, eye-catching look and cutting-edge capabilities. Designed with recyclable components and packaging, the Reclaim is the perfect handset for the environmentally conscious consumer who wants their phone to be “green” without having to sacrifice on the latest technology. Unlike other eco-friendly devices in the United States, the Reclaim shows that you don’t have to sacrifice great features to have an environmentally conscious product. The Reclaim is “loaded” with advanced technology including a QWERTY slide-out keyboard; a 2.0 megapixel camera and camcorder; integrated social-messaging features such as Facebook, e-mail, texting and YouTube; GPS navigation; and more.

In designing this phone, Sprint met with key green electronics stakeholders and reviewed available information to determine the important elements of designing an environmentally responsible phone. Sprint selected Samsung as its handset partner for it first eco-friendly device and on Aug. 6, 2009, announced the Reclaim. Some of the Reclaim’s environmental attributes include:

• 80% recyclable (per SEC standards)
• RoHS compliant
• No polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or phthalates, and minimal brominated flame retardants (BFRs) — restricted to the chipset
• Casing of bioplastics sourced from corn (40%) and polycarbonate (60%), which means fewer greenhouse gas emissions than typical devices
• Energy Star charger, visible alert prompting the user to unplug the phone charger
• More sustainable packaging — 100% recyclable materials, high post-consumer waste content, all printing done with soy inks, online user guide with abbreviated guide in box
• Postage-paid envelop to recycle customer’s old device (as is true with nearly every Sprint device box)
• $2 contribution to Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre Program with each device purchase from Aug. 16, 2009 – Dec. 31, 2009
• Green One Click Tile for direct customer access to green content and applications
• GPS navigation option to help customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions

Eco-friendly Accessories

In May 2009, Sprint announced the availability of the SOLIO Mono solar-powered charger and two new Nite Ize mobile-phone carrying cases made from 100 percent recycled plastic water bottles. The SOLIO Mono Hybrid Charger allows mobile-phone users to charge their phone through solar power so they can avoid the greenhouse gas emissions associated with charging their phone through the electric grid. The SOLIO charger stores the power from the sun and can be used anywhere, any time. The sport carrying cases are available in two colors and sizes: large in sage green and small in rust. These eco-accessories may be purchased online at www.sprint.com/accessories.

Environmental Design Process

On Aug. 6, 2009, Sprint outlined its plans for a new environmental product and accessory design process. Sprint’s goal is to move toward devices and accessories that:

• Are free of potentially hazardous materials
• Use negligible energy or are self-charging
• Are fully and easily recyclable
• Are created through an environmentally sustainable manufacturing process
• Have sustainable packaging
• Use interoperable accessories (standardized interface)
• Minimize environmental damage caused in the raw material extraction process
• Are easily upgradeable, extending the average life per device

Because Sprint does not complete any direct manufacturing, efforts must be done in tandem with our manufacturing partners. Sprint’s first step is setting clear expectations with manufacturing partners by establishing a set of environmental criteria for future devices and accessories. These changes will not be immediately experienced by Sprint’s end customers because the device development cycle is long.