| Press
Release - December 14,
2007 |
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Making it
Easier to Recycle Cell Phones
New Partnership Increases opportunities
to Keep California Beautiful.
December 14,
2007, Sacramento, Calif. (PRWEB). - Keep California
Beautiful (KCB) in partnership with American Wireless, and The Wireless
Alliance has developed a program to provide cell phone recycling
opportunities throughout California. The partnership already has
expanded the existing cell phone recycling program developed by KCB
and the Wireless Alliance to include drop off locations at 300 of
the nearly 1000 dealerships associated with American Wireless with
additional locations to be added.
This program will begin immediately, in time for the holiday shopping
season when many replace old cell phones. The recycler, The Wireless
Alliance will provide collection boxes free of charge to all distributor
locations associated with American Wireless. Consumers may contact
The Wireless Alliance to find a location nearby by calling toll
free (866) 366-5791 and providing their zip code. If you are a
wireless retailer in California, this recycling program allows
compliance with AB 2901 and offers additional promotional benefits.
According to Christine Flowers-Ewing, Executive Director of Keep
California Beautiful, “the organization supports the recycling
of cell phones in this manner because consumers need options to
dispose of their cell phones and accessories in an environmentally
sound way which is convenient. The bonus is that with retail locations
providing collection opportunities and our web based program it
is easier than ever to recycle cell phones.”
Over 240 million
Americans have a cell phone and every year an estimated 150 million
cell phones go into closets, desk drawers and worse, in the trash
while over 100 million wireless phones will be discarded this year!
However, wireless phones can be redistributed, refurbished or recycled
- almost every part of a wireless phone is recyclable!
“Cell phones contain harmful metals that can pollute the
environment and threaten our health. By properly recycling cell
phones, they can be reused, decreasing the need for new metal mining”,
said Margo Reid Brown, Chair for the California Integrated Waste
Management Board. “This program will ease the burden on
consumers and help us protect our environment.”
Recycling your phone costs you nothing and contributes to the
well-being of our planet. A cell phone can be harmful to the environment
if thrown into the trash. It contains materials such as lead, arsenic,
nickel, cadmium, and other materials which can pollute the ground
and water. One cell phone, tossed into a landfill, can pollute
up to 40,000 gallons of groundwater!
Keep California Beautiful is
raising funds by collecting cell phones and helping the environment
by keeping cell phones out of landfills. All materials are repurposed
in a zero waste, environmentally-conscious manner. The cell phone
recycling guarantees personal information is destroyed. Proceeds
benefit Keep California Beautiful and support our cleanup, recycling
and beautification projects across the state. Individuals who recycle
their phones through this program will receive a certificate of
appreciation.
During the next year Keep
California Beautiful will be working to help promote environmental
education messaging and public outreach supporting the need to
affect public perception and individual responsibility regarding
the recycling of cell phones as the current recycling rate for
cell phones is approximately 5%.
About Keep
California Beautiful
Keep California Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful,
is a nonprofit environmental organization. KCB’s mission
is to promote individual responsibility for California’s
environment through source reduction, litter prevention, recycling,
and beautification. KCB pursues this mission by developing public/private
partnerships at the state level as a way to provide necessary resources
to local communities. For more information on our programs please
visit www.cleanca.org
About American Wireless
As a division of The Brix Group Inc. (founded in 1971 by Harry
Brix), and recognized as the first and one of the largest Wireless
Master Agents in North America, American Wireless serves as a
critical intermediary between wireless carriers and independent
retailers. Ultimately this large retail network made up of independent
wireless dealers serves the wireless consumer and business user.
American Wireless is headquartered in Campbell, California and
has a nationwide distribution and sales footprint. With offices,
infrastructure and a sales force throughout the United States
(including distribution in parts of Mexico and Canada), American
Wireless facilitates the distribution of wireless products and
services for specific carriers and manufacturers such as Sprint,
Verizon Wireless, Dish Network TV, Sirius Satellite Radio, Helio,
Boost Mobile, Motorola and more. The American Wireless independent
dealer-store and sales channel generates a significant portion
of the industry's annual revenue for cell phones (postpaid and
prepaid), satellite television and radios, GPS devices, voice
and data activation services, and hardware and accessories.
About
The Wireless Alliance
The Wireless Alliance is a cellular phone recycling company and
your source for new and used cellular equipment. They constantly
strive to bring integrity, reliability, and great customer service
to the wireless phone recycling industry. As a wholesaler of used,
new, and refurbished equipment we sell between 50-60,000 phones
per month. They collect and distribute every cell phone technology
including CDMA, TDMA, Analog, and GSM. They take pride in successfully
liquidating overstocked, obsolete, and used phone inventories.
Let us help you turn useless inventory into cash or find the product
you need for refurbishing. The Wireless Alliance works with manufacturers,
wireless carriers, recyclers and non-profit organizations to collect,
resell and recycle cellular equipment. All equipment is repurposed
in a zero waste, environmentally-conscious manner. Since 2001,
The Wireless Alliance has reclaimed over 500 tons of wireless equipment
from landfills, contributing to a cleaner and safer environment.
About The California Integrated Waste Management Board
The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) is the
State's leading authority on recycling and waste reduction promoting
a zero waste California in partnership with local government,
industry, and the public. This means reducing waste whenever
possible, promoting the management of all materials to their
highest and best use, and protecting public health and safety
and the environment.
Media Relations/Analyst Contacts
Christine Flowers-Ewing
Keep California
Beautiful
Phone:
(916) 368-9301
cflowers@cleanca.org
Steve Schnittker
Sr. Manager of Marketing, American Wireless
Phone: 408-874-4821
sschnittker@americanwireless.com
Eileen Quinn
American Wireless
858.689.4705 or 858.774.1792
Eileen.quinn@sbcglobal.net
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