Outerwall Commits to Collecting Two Million Pounds of Mobile Devices to Help Combat Surging E-Waste Crisis

BELLEVUE, Wash., Sept. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the Clinton Global Initiative's Tenth Annual Meeting, Outerwall Inc. (Nasdaq: OUTR) announced that it expects to collect at least two million pounds of mobile phones, tablets, and other devices and accessories over the next three years through its ecoATM® recycling kiosks, which accept electronics for reuse and recycling, helping to divert e-waste from landfills.

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Industry experts estimate that each year 15 pounds of e-waste are generated per person worldwide. Consumer demand for mobile phones remains strong. More than 1.8 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide in 2013 (Source: Gartner, Inc.), and  Apple announced more than four million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus pre-orders were received within the first 24 hours of its announcement earlier this month.

"We can all make a tremendous impact if each person commits to reducing their personal e-waste footprint," said J. Scott Di Valerio, CEO of Outerwall. "ecoATM was created to make it easy and rewarding for people to sell their devices for reuse and recycle, thereby reducing their impact on the environment."

Outerwall's sustainability efforts extend to the company's Redbox® entertainment and Coinstar® money services businesses.  Redbox reuses DVDs, works with recyclers to shred and recycle discs and minimizes waste by selling used DVDs to third parties or donating them to nonprofit organizations. Coinstar's network of coin counting kiosks helps keep coins in circulation, reducing the amount of new coins minted.  Over the past 20+ years, Coinstar has processed more than 650 billion coins.

"We are so pleased to see Outerwall's commitment to ensure that electronic devices, currency and media are in circulation and in use for the full duration of their useful lives--and then their component materials recycled responsibly," said Katherine V. Smith, executive director, Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. "This model can help address the digital divide in mobile computing and reduce landfill waste--this is great for our society and our planet," Smith added.

ecoATM: Rewarding Reuse and Recycling of Mobile Devices

Outerwall's network of approximately 1,100 ecoATM kiosks (as of 7/30/14), located in shopping malls and select retailers nationwide, recycle consumer electronics and keep them out of landfills by incentivizing reuse and recycling. ecoATM is able to find a second life for approximately 75 percent of devices collected. For the remaining 25 percent, ecoATM partners with certified e-waste reclamation facilities to ensure those materials are responsibly reused and recycled.

"Many of our retailer partners are taking significant strides toward integrating sustainability into their business operations," said Maria Stipp, president of ecoATM. "These efforts confirm our strategic alignment and underscore the potential we have to work together to make e-waste recycling easy, safe, and convenient for consumers."

ecoATM kiosks identify, evaluate, price and accept devices of any era or condition and use a worldwide auction system to offer consumers competitive prices ranging from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. ecoATM holds both Responsible Recycling (R2) and ISO 14001 certification, confirming the company's commitment to maintaining the highest standards of electronics recycling, as well as ISO 27001 certification for information and personal data security. ecoATM is also a member of the Consumer Electronics Association and the Device Renewal Forum, and is a founding member of the Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearing House (ERCC). These industry groups are focused on defining the best practices for e-waste recycling.  See ecoatm.com/how-it-works for a video of how an ecoATM kiosk works.

To learn more about ecoATM or find a kiosk, visit, ecoatm.com. For more information on Outerwall's sustainability efforts, visit outerwall.com/responsibility.

About Outerwall Inc.  
Outerwall Inc. (Nasdaq: OUTR) has more than 20 years of experience creating some of the most profitable spaces for its retail partners. The company mission is to create a better everyday by delivering breakthrough kiosk experiences that delight consumers and generate revenue for retailers. As the company that brought consumers Redbox® entertainment, Coinstar® money services, and ecoATM® electronics recycling kiosks, Outerwall is leading the next generation of automated retail and paving the way for inventive, scalable businesses. Outerwall ^TM kiosks are in neighborhood grocery stores, drug stores, mass merchants, malls, and other retail locations in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Learn more at outerwall.com.

About ecoATM
ecoATM, an Outerwall brand, is the first company to create an automated self-serve kiosk system to buy back old phones, tablets, or MP3 players for cash. ecoATM uses patented, advanced machine vision, electronic diagnostics, and artificial intelligence to evaluate electronics. ecoATM eCycling stations provide a convenient trade-in solution with features that validate sellers' identities and deter the sale of stolen phones, and the company collaborates with national, state, and local law-enforcement groups in combating mobile phone theft through innovative use of technology and education (ecoatm.com/law-enforcement).

About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)—an initiative of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation—convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 180 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the CGI community have made more than 2,800 commitments, which are already improving the lives of more than 430 million people in over 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $103 billion.

CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expect" and "will" and variations of such words, and future-looking and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events, results, performance, or conditions. The forward-looking statements in this report, including those relating to the cell phone and recycled electronics markets, and the performance of the ecoATM business, are only predictions based on the current intent and expectations of management, and actual events, results, performance, and conditions may be materially different from those expressed or implied in those statements. Differences may result from actions taken by Outerwall or ecoATM, as well as from risks and uncertainties beyond their control. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, competition from other companies who purchase used electronics, actions resulting from federal, state, local and other laws and regulations or taken by governing bodies, as well as the ability to achieve the strategic and financial objectives of Outerwall's entry into new businesses, such as ecoATM. The foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is illustrative, but by no means exhaustive. For more information on factors that may affect Outerwall, please review "Risk Factors" described in Outerwall's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), as well as other public filings with the SEC. These forward-looking statements reflect Outerwall's expectations as of the date of this report. Outerwall undertakes no obligation to update the information provided herein.

SOURCE Outerwall Inc.