Why an R2 Certification is Important for a Mobile Reseller

With today's emphasis on recycling, R2 certifications are becoming increasingly important. If you are a mobile reseller, you should purchase your recycled inventory from an R2-certified wholesaler such as Today’s Wholesale Closeout.

What Is an R2 Certification?

The original R2 certification was developed by the Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI) technical advisory committee. It set out to establish the industry standards for reusing and recycling electronics. They evaluated different methods and practices and came up with the guidelines that work best for the environment, employees, corporations, and wholesalers.

At Today’s Closeout we are proud to sell recycled and used phones in order to help maintain a more sustainable world and to provide the best products for our customers. We stock a wide selection of used and factory refurbished phones for wholesale purposes. 

What Are the Provisions of an R2 Certification?

When a company receives an R2 certification, it agrees to uphold the R2 standards and practices. It also agrees to periodic audits to ensure its facilities meet these standards. The provisions or standards for an R2 certification are that a company must:

• Meet or exceed environmental, safety, and health standards
• Reuse or recover items whenever possible in a responsible manner
• Emphasize quality in its reuse and repair operations
• Track its electronics and practices
• Destroy any sensitive data on the devices it refurbishes or resells

There are more standards, but these are particularly relevant to mobile wholesalers.
Those with an R2 certification practice:

• Downstream recycling - the practice of fully managing all equipment from resale to recycling if necessary
• Brokering - making sure that every part gets to the appropriate place
• Data sanitization - removing data
• Materials recycling - removing reusable metals and components

Each term denotes one aspect of the R2 certification.

What Does an R2 Certification Do?

There are several reasons to use an R2-certified mobile reseller. R2 certified resellers:

• Prioritize repairing and reselling returned devices. This ultimately helps the carriers out by letting the reseller deal with more carriers and gives you more wholesale options.
• Guarantee your safety with R2 data protocols. This certification means that the reseller has a guarantee that any data on a phone is deleted before it is resold.
• Guarantee the destruction of data in phones due to be recycled to prevent a data breach. This does not allow anyone to obtain data from previously used phones, even if they are being destroyed.
• Use sustainable recycling practices so that every part of a phone or device is reused or recycled.
• Provide for functionality labeling. They cannot label something as fully functional unless it actually is.
• Are routinely audited by Sustainable Electronics Recycling International to ensure that they are continuing practices reliably

R2 certified wholesalers provide less expensive products from major carriers safely and sustainably.

Benefits of Using an R2 Certified Reseller

You have many benefits as a seller when you use an R2 certified wholesaler. Here are a few:

• An R2 certified reseller fully tracks through the recycle or resale process. This prevents items slated for resale or recycling from being lost or stolen for the information they contain.
• Wholesalers are held accountable for R2 vendors complying with all standards for environmental protection, human health, and data security.
• Trained employees properly handle devices in a safe and effective working environment.
• An R2 certified reseller does not allow sensitive information to fall into the wrong hands, keeping you legally protected. 

Each of these benefits is important when you consider your reputation as a reseller. When you are buying from an R2 certified reseller, you can realize all of these benefits without any added cost to you and a lower price for the end user.

As more resellers become environmentally conscious, the importance of an R2 certification increases. This certification acts as a regulatory device for those who recycle and sell mobile phones at wholesale.

When a company has this certification, its buyers know that the company is concerned about environmental safety, data security, and, ultimately, the end user of the device.