Sprint said it is on track to decommission its Nextel iDEN network and plans to recycle nearly all of the equipment that can’t be reused.

The US number-three operator said the Nextel National Network will be decommissioned at 12.01am Eastern time on 30 June, with iDEN devices no longer receiving voice or data services.

Switch locations will be switched off in rapid succession on 30 June with equipment powered down and backhaul eliminated at more than 30,000 cell sites.

Sprint said it will recycle the majority of the equipment it can’t reuse, including cables, batteries and concrete shelters occupied by many of the iDEN cell sites.

Radios, server racks, antennas and air conditioners will all go to recycling vendors while the concrete shelters will be crushed and turned into composite for roads and bridges. Sites that also have CDMA and LTE equipment will have the iDEN gear removed.

It is estimated that the recycling initiative, which is scheduled to continue into early 2014, will stop 100 million pounds (more than 45,000 metric tons) of equipment going to landfill.

Sprint announced its plans to phase out the iDEN network late in 2010, as part of its Network Vision modernisation plan.

The company has notified customers of the shutdown over the past year and encouraged them to migrate to Sprint’s nationwide CDMA network in order to maintain service.