Live Sustainably and Recycle your ecobee Products

ecobee is protecting the earth’s finite resources by reducing waste, repurposing returned devices, and making devices for easy disassembly and recycling. Please read on to learn how the principles of the circular economy are at the heart of our product designs and how to recycle our devices and packaging responsibly.

Together, we can make meaningful strides in protecting the environment and fighting climate change!

What is the circular economy?

The circular economy addresses pressing global environmental challenges, such as climate change and the excessive use of finite resources, by ensuring that products and materials remain in circulation rather than becoming waste.

The circular economy is based on Four Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle.

How do we embrace the circular economy at ecobee?

Reduce We reduce waste with long-lasting products. The average lifespan of an ecobee thermostat is 4x longer than a smartphone.¹

Repurpose We repurpose returned devices through our Certified Refurbished program.

Recycle: We design our devices to be easily recyclable. All devices returned to ecobee that we cannot refurbish go through an e-cycling program.²

Learn more on our sustainability page

How you can help protect the environment and make a difference

• Reduce your electronics waste through smart purchasing and good maintenance. 

• Reuse still-functioning items by donating or selling them. 

• Recycle products that cannot be reused or repaired.

Why recycle electronic waste (e-waste)?

Today, less than 20% of electronic waste is formally recycled, with 80% either ending up in landfill or being informally recycled2.

By recycling consumer electronics, you contribute to the conservation of natural resources and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Please recycle devices that can no longer be reused or repaired, whether they are ecobee’s products coming to the end of their useful life or the devices that were on your wall before you purchased one of our products.

Recycling at ecobee

Please recycle and compost ecobee packaging

ecobee’s packaging is made with the planet in mind and uses environmentally-friendly materials. Most of our packaging incorporates recycled materials, and we use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified materials whenever possible. And it’s of course recyclable, please recycle it. Recycling guidelines can be found on our products’ packaging.

We are also moving towards using paper envelopes for our hardware packs (containing the screws and wall mounts needed for thermostat installation). Kindly dispose of these envelopes in the recycling bin.

Our latest packaging includes a Paperfoam® starch tray made from bio-based materials and is fully recyclable and compostable. This tray is included in the Smart Thermostat Premium, Smart Thermostat Enhanced, and in our latest generation ecobee3 lite packaging. Please compost the trays through your municipal compost program or using your own compost. An experiment using the vermicomposting method showed that 95 percent of the material decomposed within 4 months.

Please recycle devices that cannot be reused or repaired

How to recycle your device:

1. While ecobee devices do not store personal data, we recommend performing a factory reset before recycling for peace of mind if doing so is possible. If you have an ecobee thermostat, please follow these instructions to factory reset. If you have an ecobee camera, please follow the directions for your product under “Leaving your device for the next resident." You will not need to factory reset your ecobee sensors.
2. Remove any batteries (including lithium-ion batteries) from your electronics, as they need to be recycled separately. Except for the Chime Adapter included with the ecobee ecobee smart doorbell camera (wired) , ecobee devices do not carry lithium-ion batteries. Learn how to remove and recycle the Chime Adapter’s battery in the next section.
3. Drop all devices except thermostats off at an e-waste recycling facility in your local community. Find a location in the USA or Canada.
4. Thermostats can be recycled at the following locations:

Canada: Public Drop Off Locations | HRAI US: Where to Recycle - Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC)

Please recycle batteries

Why do lithium batteries need to be recycled separately from general e-waste?

• When disposed with municipal recycling items, they can be damaged or crushed, posing a fire hazard.

• They contain hazardous metals like mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel. If these metals are released, they can pose risks to the environment.

• Lithium-ion batteries consist of critical minerals like cobalt, graphite, and lithium, for which there are no readily available substitutes. Recycling allows these materials to be utilized in the production of new items.

What ecobee devices carry lithium-ion batteries?

The Chime Adapter which comes with the ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera (wired) contains a rechargeable 350mA 20C Lithium-polymer battery (also called a “secondary” battery). If the Chime Adapter has reached the end of its useful life, please ensure proper recycling of the battery.

What happens when the Chime Adapter has a depleted battery?

When your Chime Adapter has a depleted battery, it’s time to remove the battery and recycle it and the device itself.

1. To recycle the Chime Adapter's battery, you must remove it from the Chime Adapter. Unscrew the two screws which hold the Chime Adapter together and then unplug the battery connector. Do not remove the wire connector from the battery.
2. If your ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera (wired) is under warranty, ecobee will replace your Chime Adapter. Please contact Customer Support to request a replacement and follow the instructions in the ecobee app to remove and replace your Chime Adapter.

Where to recycle your rechargeable batteries?

It’s easy! Just use Call2Recycle’s certified recycler locator to find a drop-off point near you. Enter your zip code or postal code and select a local recycling program with the “Rechargeable Batteries” icon.

Did you know? Call2Recycle is the largest battery recycling program in North American.

You can also recycle your battery at our retailers such as Home Depot, Lowes and Best buy when they offer drop-off in-store.

If you have any questions on circular economy and recycling, please contact our team at impact@ecobee.com or contact Customer Support for further assistance.

¹ Per Statista.com the average lifespan of a smartphone in the United States is 3.17 years (https://bit.ly/2QHnhek). Based on internal measurements the average lifespan of an ecobee thermostat is 12 years.
² “E-cycling” is the recycling process for electronics and means electronics are removed and processed safely to remove and reuse metals.