Managing waste
Verizon is dedicated to a standard of environmental stewardship that meets or exceeds legal requirements.
Paper waste
We are committed to the sustainable sourcing and use of paper, as detailed in our Paper Sourcing and Use policy.
Over the past three years, Verizon Wireless has reduced the amount of printed materials for customer orders by 49 percent. For 2017, this represents avoiding using approximately 354 tons of paper or about 7,000 trees.
Goal:
At least
50%
of our paper annually
includes 10 percent
post-consumer waste
(PCW) content.*
2017 Progress:
70%
In 2017, we exceeded
this goal with 70 percent
(19 percent more than
2016) of our sourced paper
including at least 10 percent
PCW content.
*This excludes billing segments that are not able to print on recycled-content paper due to machinery issues.
Recycling
There’s a big opportunity to reduce the number of cell phones, set-top boxes and other electronic devices that end up in landfills by reusing or recycling them. We refurbish and redistribute Fios set-top boxes and recycle Verizon-owned equipment, including network equipment, batteries and other supplies. Also, we hold public recycling rallies to collect e-waste in the communities we serve.
2017 recycling results
Internal76.9 million
pounds of network
equipment and office
materials recycled
in 2017
Community741,731
pounds of e-waste collected at 49 recycling rallies in 2017 – enough to offset 1,131 metric tons of CO2e emissions
Internal49%
reduction in the use of plastic model phones for marketing purposes since 2015 – equivalent to eliminating approximately 150 tons of plastic
Community3.2 million
pounds of e-waste collected at community and employee recycling rallies between 2009 and 2017
