Millions of families across the United States lack access to the devices essential for school, employment, and economic participation. Simultaneously, e-waste accumulates in people’s drawers or is incorrectly disposed of in landfills, creating environmental harm. At the intersection of these two crises sits a solution: an easily accessible, responsible device recycling program that directly funds digital resources for under-resourced communities.
For years, AT&T has worked to close the digital divide through connectivity initiatives and digital literacy efforts. In 2025, we identified a new opportunity to accelerate impact: our retail store footprint. By leveraging our long-term collaboration with Compudopt, an organization specializing in providing tech to underserved youth, we could transform our stores into recycling collection hubs that simultaneously addressed e-waste recycling and device access.
Our initial objectives were to:
Consumers hold on to an average of three old devices and cite not knowing where to dispose of them as their top reason for holding on to their e-waste, according to Morning Consult. Our first strategic decision was to eliminate barriers to participation and make public participation simple and with tangible impact.
Rather than a traditional cause marketing campaign, we designed a closed-loop system:
Following the July 4th flooding in Texas Hill Country communities in 2025, we rapidly mobilized AT&T's retail network across Texas and leveraged our existing e-waste infrastructure to coordinate device collections. Building on this momentum, we collected over $15,000 in customer donations in the weeks following the floods and directed e-waste donations across the region to support the donation of more than 200 refurbished laptops to students and families in the Center Point Independent School District and Kerr County specifically. These efforts helped ensure that impacted K-12 students had access to critical technology they needed to return to school.
The distribution event drew attendance from Texas Governor Greg Abbott and First Lady Cecilia Abbott, underscoring the importance of the initiative to the community and elevating visibility for AT&T's social impact efforts. This crisis response revealed something critical: we had built a turnkey model for store-driven disaster relief that can now be activated within 48 hours in the event of another disaster.
After the success of our first year, in 2026, AT&T expanded the program to new markets including Denver/Boulder, Seattle and Dallas – proving that the campaign follows a turnkey model that can be replicated and well received in new cities. Several expansions were paired with launch events, welcoming the community to engage with the campaign and inviting them to participate at their nearest store.
Additionally, AT&T launched the e-waste bins in Washington D.C. in time for America’s 250th birthday with a special twist – turning the typical blue recycling bin into a red, white and blue bin, and encouraging customers to donate old devices to invest in our next 250 years.
Objective 1: Distribute 1,000 Refurbished Laptops
The 10,000lbs of e-waste collected in our first year led to us securing 1,000 refurbished laptops for local distribution by Compudopt. These laptops are donated directly back into the communities that donated allowing for a full circle, local engagement opportunity. In the Texas Hill Country crisis response alone, we directed 200+ laptops to Center Point Independent School District and Kerr County families.
Objective 2: Responsibly Manage 10,000+ Pounds of E-Waste
In our first year, across the initial 103 retail locations, we collected and responsibly managed over 10,000 pounds of e-waste through Compudopt's secure data erasure and refurbishment program.
Objective 3: Activate Consumer Participation Through Visible Impact
Geofenced campaigns achieved 4% incremental lift in retail store traffic and 76.9M impressions while our digital campaigns generated over 35K additional store visits. Additionally, organic social posts focused on community impact, generating awareness among AT&T brand followers.
Objective 4: Engage Employees in Meaningful Volunteer Opportunities
We engaged over 200 employees in hands-on volunteer activities—collection, backpack-packing, connection clinics, and digital literacy workshops—embedded into store operations.
Objective 5: Build the Case for Expansion
The 2026 expansion validated our model's scalability. In our second year, we expanded to over 100 additional stores, hosting launch events in Dallas and other key markets that demonstrated program impact and community alignment. This growth established the foundation for sustained national impact, empowering us to set a new goal of collecting a total of 20,000lbs of e-waste since program start.
