Sprint Nextel has started offering refurbished handsets to its existing customers as part of its new certified pre-owned device program.

The nationwide effort is part of Sprint’s larger goal to collect nine out of every 10 devices it sells for reuse or recycle by 2017. Sprint’s reuse and recycle rate was about 40 percent last year.

“Ultimately, giving phones a ‘second life’ is a win-win for Sprint, our customers and the environment,” said David Owens, vice president of marketing for Sprint, in a statement.

Sprint is selling refurbished models of the BlackBerry Tour, the Samsung Reclaim in green and the Sanyo 2700 in pink and blue. The Tour costs $79.99 and the Reclaim and Sanyo 2700 models are going for $49.99.

The phones are available to existing Sprint customers and can be purchased at regular price without a contract extension and without affecting a subscriber’s upgrade eligibility. With a two-year contract, the Tour costs $29.99 and the Reclaim and 2700 are free.

All of Sprint’s refurbished devices come with a 30-day return policy and are remanufactured according to OEM new unit specifications.

Until the launch of its certified pre-owned program, Sprint’s refurbishing efforts were limited to a pilot program for a surplus of pre-owned Palm Centro devices.

AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA all offer refurbished phones through different channels.