Just in time for Global Recycling Day, Canada’s Eco-Train unites phone case industry (brands, distributors, and retailers alike) in a call-to-action for shoppers to recycle old cellphone cases

Eco-Train continues its mission to support earth-friendly products with the launch of Canada’s first-ever national recycling program for cellphone cases. The first-of-its-kind Phone Case Recycling Program arrives just in time for Global Recycling Day, Thursday March 18 and unites major mobile accessory brands, retailers, and distributors in a collaborative effort to eliminate landfill waste.

Did you know that more than 31 million Canadians own a smartphone? (statista)We all rely on phone cases to protect our most indispensable device. These phone cases contribute to our world’s plastic pollution, ending up in landfills coast-to-coast at an unthinkable rate, in fact:

• The average length of smartphone ownership in Canada is 26 months
• An average consumer uses 2-3 different cases in that device’s lifetime of 26 months
• That means over 35 million phone cases are used in a year, with no disposal solution – until now
• You may think when you drop your phone case in the blue bin that it will be recycled – it will not. Recycling depots do not process phone cases, sustainably made or otherwise

Although future-forward mobile accessory brands including LifeProof, Gear4, Mellow and Pela are already producing sustainably made phone cases to satisfy green-friendly shoppers, without the Phone Case Recovery Program, they are all destined for landfill.

It is Eco-Train’s goal to educate business and consumers about the severity of the global plastic pollution crisis, while offering a sustainable solution.

Here’s how it works

Eco-Train, in collaboration with mobile accessory distributors and retailers across Canada has created a network of retail collection points that is expanding daily, check this store locator for the closest location to you. Consumers are encouraged to bring their obsolete, out-of-date phone cases, all materials welcome except those containing batteries or made of metal, to their participating local retailer for recycling.

What it means to be an Eco-Train PLATINUM Sponsor.

1. ASTM D6400 Certified Compostable.
2. Must contain zero plastic in the packaging, no poly bags in shipments.
3. Use bio-based ink for printed graphics on products and/or packaging.
4. Brand donates a % of profit to Eco Non-Profit organizations – 1% For the Planet
5. Brand helps pay for back end sorting, shredding and preparation of all other non-recyclable cases collected to be put towards a “Waste to Energy” co-processing program.
6. Brand agrees to take back all their cases recovered through the program to be recycled for rebirth into new products or properly composted in an industrial compost facility.

What it means to be an Eco-Train GOLD Sponsor.

1. Products must be either ASTM D6400 Certified Compostable or made with a minimum of 50% post consumer recycled plastic.
2. Must contain zero plastic in the packaging, no poly bags in shipments.
3. Brand donates a % of profit to Eco Non-Profit organizations.
4. Brand helps pay for back end sorting, shredding and preparation of all non-recyclable cases collected to be put towards a “Waste to Energy” co-processing program.

What it means to be an Eco-Train SILVER Sponsor.

1. Silver Sponsorship is open to any case brand doing their part to help pay for the back end sorting, shredding and preparation of all non-recyclable cases collected to be put towards a “Waste to Energy” co-processing program.

Find the closest Eco-Train retail partner HERE