Bellevue, Wash.-based Coinstar, Inc. today announced its investment in ecoATM, an automated eCycling station that captures, tracks and recycles mobile devices. Investment details were not disclosed.
"Coinstar is continually looking for kiosk concepts that are innovative and compelling," said Gregg Kaplan, president and CEO of Coinstar. "We believe ecoATM could be a viable business as it provides an easy way for consumers to properly resell and/or recycle the more than $7 billion in used mobile phones that are annually retired in the U.S. while creating a sustainable secondary market for these devices."
Founded in 2008, ecoATM currently has pilot kiosks in a limited number of markets and plans to expand in the United States and internationally over the next several years. EcoATM kiosks visually and/or electronically scan used devices such as mobile phones and iPods, to establish their precise value and pay consumers on the spot. The collected devices are then either sold into worldwide secondary markets or recycled to reclaim the materials.
"We value Coinstar's expertise and longevity in the automated retail space and are thrilled with their support in the future success of our automated eCycling solution," said Tom Tullie, CEO of ecoATM. "EcoATM delivers convenience and immediate financial incentive to consumers looking to retire used devices and simultaneously creates a new standard of accountability and responsibility for the re-use of electronic devices."
EcoATM was the winner of Coinstar's 2009 'Big Idea' Contest announced at KioskCom (now called Customer Engagement Technology World) in New York last November.
Based in San Diego, ecoATM provides a convenient in-store trade-in solution that benefits consumers, electronics retailers, and consumer electronics manufacturers. EcoATM is the only company to develop patent-pending, automated eCycling stations that electronically and/or visually inspects virtually any consumer electronic device, connects them with secondary market buyers and recyclers through pre-auction/auction systems, and administers trade-in promotions for retailers and manufacturers.
