Chris Irion, CEO, e-Cycle
Give us an example of a business challenge you and/or your organization faced, as well as how you overcame it.
A great challenge for e-Cycle was differentiating itself in the B-to-B marketplace and build our brand as the the most trusted wireless buyback, data security and recyclingcompany in the world. This was critical when engaging the top Fortune companies. One way we overcame this challenge was to invest considerable time, energy, and resources to become the first mobile recycling company in the world to become e-Stewards® certified. Only electronics recyclers that adhere to the highest global standards of environmental protection and worker safety are e-Stewards certified.
In what ways are you an innovative leader, and how does your organization employ innovation to be on the leading edge?
The true innovation at e-Cycle resides in the quality people that we hire. As we expand our services nationwide and globally, hiring only “A” players is the key to e-Cycle’s success. Every e-Cycle employee must meet specific criteria that align with our core values and culture. Greatness at e-Cycle can only be achieved when we hire the most innovative team members to grow with our company. To do less would allow mediocrity to take place.
How do you make a significant impact on the community and regional economy?
e-Cycle has purchased and recycled more than eight million devices since 2005 and paid its clients more than $15 million in revenues to offset the cost of upgrading their workforces with the latest technologies. By ensuring these devices did not end up in landfills, we have prevented the contamination of up to 32,000,000,000,000 gallons of water (one cell phone in a landfill can contaminate up to 40,000gallons of water), reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 22,400 cars off the road for a year, saved enough energy to power a laptop for 35,200,000,000 hours and provide 144,480 households with electricity for anentire year, and we prevented the release of 511,200 pounds of lead into the environment. We have created 102 jobs in Central Ohio and throughout the U.S. and hope to add another 50 jobs by early 2013. From 2010 to 2012, e-Cycle contributed more than $300,000 to charities on behalf of e-Cycle clients, solely from revenues from mobile phone recycling.
Chris Irion is the CEO of e-Cycle.
