Best Buy partners with Microsoft to support electronics sustainability
Best Buy Co Inc. and Microsoft are teaming up to encourage sustainable tablet shopping and youth recycling.
During Earth Month in April, customers can bring in any eligible laptop or tablet for recycling at a Best Buy store and save $50 on the purchase of a Microsoft Surface tablet device.
In addition, the two companies are collaborating with the Junk Kouture program, which is the world’s largest youth sustainable fashion competition. Students can incorporate the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 into the creative process of their wearable designs and are provided Microsoft 365 applications to help develop their designs. Best Buy is providing information and resources for the contest on its website.
"Sustainability has been at the core of what we do at Best Buy for decades, and a large part of that is our commitment to working with our customers to help them make a positive impact on the planet," said Tim Dunn, head of environmental sustainability, Best Buy. "We’re proud to join forces with Microsoft and Junk Kouture to raise awareness about how easy it is to responsibly recycle your old tech, create positive change and leave a lasting, beneficial impact on the planet."
"Through this innovative moment with Best Buy and Microsoft, we are merging the worlds of fashion, technology, and sustainability," said Jane Smith, chief content officer at Junk Kouture. "At Junk Kouture, we strive to empower aspiring designers to view waste as tomorrow’s resources, while also showcasing the creative talent of students who are pioneering behavioral changes in recycling."
“Our initiative is rooted in championing the creative minds who possess the instinct and imagination to forge real change,” said Emilie Bridon, Microsoft Americas channel marketing director. “By providing them with the tools and platforms necessary to further their message, we generate the capacity for them to make a lasting impact, while setting new benchmarks for how we all can partake in the action of shaping the future.”
Other Best Buy electronics sustainability and recycling efforts include a nationwide program that lets customers order a prepaid Best Buy technology recycling box and use it to ship off old electronics items for recycling.
In April 2022, the retailer launched a program that picks up consumer electronics for recycling at customers’ homes. Through the service, Best Buy will refurbish and resell items, or recycle them if they cannot be resold.
Furthermore, there is the Best Buy Standalone Haul-Away service the retailer offers to customers when they purchase a new TV, major appliance or select fitness equipment, and want to recycle the product they’re replacing.
Based in Minneapolis, Best Buy operates more than 1,000 retail stores in North America.