All of Sprint's future consumer handsets will be built to "green" design standards, and supply chain vendors must adhere to a set of environmental standards.
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse revealed the new corporate emphasis Feb. 23 in testimony in front of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications.
Sprint also is launching a program that allows consumers to recycle any brand of cell phones at their stores, with participants receiving credit toward a new Sprint phone.
Sprint's supply chain initiative will rely on an environmental scorecard the firm has developed, according to a press release.
"Moving forward, every handset vendor who manufactures handsets to operate on Sprint’s networks must produce handsets that meet or exceed Sprint’s new green design criteria and specifications," Hesse told members of the Senate.
Under the new plan, handsets must be made of sustainable materials, as well as manufactured and packaged sustainably. They should not contain potentially hazardous materials. They should be energy-efficient or self-charging and should be compatible with interoperable accessories. Finally, the devices must be recyclable, reports MobileBurn.
Sprint is working with suppliers such as Motorola, Palm, Samsung, HTC, LG, RIM and Sanyo.
For a full transcript of Hesse's testimony before the Senate, click here.
To see video of the testimony, click here.
Last year, Sprint began redesigning packaging for its phone accessories, expecting to save $2.1 million annually in packaging costs. This represents a 35 percent reduction in packaging costs.
Also last year, Sprint announced a sustainable design blueprint for all future retail stores and refurbishments.