ecoATM Extends Commitment to San Diego's Innovation Economy with New Office and Additional Jobs

Electronics recycling company pursuing LEED Gold Certification, furthering sustainability efforts in region

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Dec 12, 2014, 11:00 ET

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ecoATM, the nationwide network of automated electronics recycling kiosks, today unveiled its new environmentally friendly office space in Sorrento Valley, California. The building is over 53,000 square feet and was built to meet LEED^® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) requirements with a Gold certification expected.

The average American cell phone is upgraded every 18 months, yet less than 20 percent are recycled each year¹. The rest end up in drawers – or worse, in landfills. ecoATM is changing that wasteful lifecycle with the first and only automated kiosk that buys back used consumer electronics directly from consumers. In San Diego County alone, ecoATM has safely collected nearly 200,000 devices since 2010 – that's almost three times the seating capacity of Qualcomm Stadium. The company has also paid more than $3 million to residents of San Diego County for their devices through its network of 36 kiosks in the county, which are currently located in Vons and Ralphs locations, malls and a Nexcom Navy Exchange downtown. Nationally, ecoATM has collected three million devices and has 1,510 kiosks².

"ecoATM combats the e-waste problem by making electronics recycling easy for consumers – reuse and recycling is a part of our business and has been in our DNA from the start," said Maria Stipp, president of ecoATM. "Our patented kiosks, device collection milestones, environmental commitments, and now our new building, are perfect examples of putting our brand values into action. Our planned LEED certification underscores ecoATM's environmental commitment, which extends beyond recycling electronic devices to everything the company does."

In addition to the positive environmental impact, ecoATM is also a part of the San Diego innovation economy, employing nearly 300 full-time employees. Through direct and indirect relationships with vendors and partners, such as D&K Engineering, Pitney Bowes and Loomis, ecoATM impacts thousands more individuals.

"We've been a part of ecoATM's history since it was part of the EvoNexus Incubator and we've worked in lock step as the company has grown – from raising money, spinning out of the Incubator and its July 2013 acquisition by Outerwall," said Scott Dennis, CEO at D&K Engineering. "San Diego has a strong and growing technology community; ecoATM and D&K are great examples of where manufacturing and innovation meet to spur local jobs and community relationships."

In designing the building for LEED Gold certification, there are specific sustainability attributes of the building, which include:

Electric vehicle charging stations: Three charging stations encourage the adoption of electric vehicles and allow for free charging during the workday.
Recycled content: Over 30 percent recycled content in construction products, including insulation, carpets and concrete. Office furniture and seating averages 49 percent recycled content.
Energy performance: Reduced energy used for lighting to 20 percent below industry standard by installing LEDs, occupancy sensors and efficient lighting controls.
Water use reduction: Efficient water fixtures reduce water usage by 32 percent compared to conventional fixtures, and reduce the burden on the municipal water supply and wastewater systems. With California experiencing the drought that it is, this is incredibly important.

For more information and locations, please visit http://www.ecoatm.com/.

About ecoATM

ecoATM, an Outerwall Inc. (Nasdaq: OUTR) 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's 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 (http://www.ecoatm.com/law-enforcement/).

ecoATM holds Responsible Recycling (R2) and ISO14001 certification, confirming the company's commitment to maintaining the highest standards of electronics recycling, as well as ISO27001 certification for information and personal data security. See http://www.ecoatm.com/how-it-works/ for a video of how an ecoATM kiosk works. For more information, visit www.ecoatm.com and for more information about Outerwall Inc. please visit www.outerwall.com.

About Outerwall Inc.

Outerwall Inc. (Nasdaq: OUTR) has more than 20 years of experience creating some of the most profitable spaces for their 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™ 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 www.outerwall.com.

¹ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
² Locations and data as of September 30, 2014

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SOURCE ecoATM