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ReCellular and American Red Cross Announce Cell-Phone Recycling Campaign
ReCellular and American Red Cross Announce Cell-Phone Recycling Campaign
Published 05-27-08
Submitted by ReCellular, Inc.
DEXTER, Mich., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ReCellular announced a new cell-phone recycling campaign to benefit the American Red Cross. The goal of the initiative is to raise a minimum of $50,000 for the Red Cross, through the collection and recycling of cell phones.
"In 1991, we started with a simple mission -- to create a successful business that is both socially and environmentally responsible," says Chuck Newman, founder and CEO of ReCellular, Inc." This partnership is a perfect realization of that mission, and we are proud to help the Red Cross continue their remarkable work across the country."
Two in three Americans will replace their cell phones with a newer model this year. Unfortunately, the vast majority will either keep their old phones in a junk drawer, or will add them to local landfills -- where these phones could pose an environmental hazard. ReCellular offers the ability to safely recycle these phones, and provide financial support for the Red Cross.
The program will include cell phone donations from Red Cross supporters. Those who would like to participate can download a prepaid shipping label from the Red Cross Web site (www.redcross.org/sponsors/howtohelp/recellular.asp). For every cell phone collected and sold until October 31, 2008, ReCellular will donate $1 to the American Red Cross, with a minimum commitment of $50,000.
"We think this is a great way for people to support the mission of the Red Cross and protect the environment," says Lauri Rhinehart, Vice President of Development Operations at the American Red Cross. "We are thrilled to be the beneficiary of ReCellular's campaign which reaches out to the consumer market to turn old phones into donations."
For over 125 years, the American Red Cross has mobilized people to help their neighbors down the street, across the country and around the world, prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters and other life threatening emergencies. The Red Cross touches lives in many ways: helping communities in the face of disaster; teaching vital life-saving skills through health and safety courses; ensuring the nation has an adequate supply of the safest blood possible; helping military families stay connected through emergency messages and working with other Red Cross and Red Crescent societies to help vulnerable people and communities around the world.
ReCellular is the leading electronics sustainability firm in the United States, having processed more than four million wireless phones in 2007. The majority of these phones were collected through donate-a-phone programs, which provided more than $8 million dollars for various non-profit groups in 2007.
Approximately half of the phones ReCellular collects are still functional, and are reconditioned and sold for reuse -- considered to be the ultimate form of recycling. The remaining phones are either obsolete or non-functional, and are dismantled and sent to recycling partners for reclamation.
ReCellular's recycling programs divert more than one million pounds of materials from landfills every year, reclaiming materials such as:
-- Plastics from phone cases and accessories
-- Circuit boards containing precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and palladium
-- Batteries, containing heavy metals such as nickel, iron, cadmium and lead
-- Phone chargers, containing copper wiring
-- Shipping materials containing paper and cardboard
About ReCellular, Inc.:
With offices in the United States, Hong Kong, and Brazil, ReCellular, Inc. is the world's foremost collector, reseller and recycler of used wireless phones and accessories. We provide solutions for the collection, reuse and recycling of used personal electronics that generate financial return for our partners, quality products for our customers, funding for charity organizations, and protection of the environment. Corporate, charitable, consumer and wholesale information is available at www.ReCellular.com.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and counsels victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation's blood supply; teaches lifesaving skills; and supports military members and their families. The American Red Cross is a charity, not a government agency, and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its humanitarian mission.
