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RECELLULAR OPERATIONS REACH THREE CONTINENTS, PHONE RECYCLING FACILITIES OPEN IN CHINA AND BRAZIL
DEXTER, Mich., Jan. 7 – With new offices in Hong Kong and Sao Paulo, Brazil, ReCellular Inc. extends its leadership as the global leader in the emerging global market for used cell phones. With expanded operations in North America, South America and Asia, ReCellular expects to resell or recycle more than 4 million wireless phones and accessories worldwide in 2007.
The new ReCellular Hong Kong facility opened in October, 2006. There, ReCellular collects mobile phones to be refurbished or recycled, and evaluates new and used wireless products, parts, and components sourced in the region. The Hong Kong facility also serves as a sales headquarters for ReCellular products to phone distributors throughout Asia.
The new ReCellular Sao Paulo office also opened in October, providing on-site management of the company’s expanding recycling and sales efforts in South America. In November, ReCellular reached a two-year partnership with Brazil-based Vivo, the leading mobile telecommunications provider in the Southern Hemisphere. ReCellular will provide Vivo’s 28.5 million customers with a secure, convenient way to dispose of their retired phones, which ReCellular will resell or recycle.
“China and Brazil are two of the biggest wireless markets in the world,” says Chuck Newman, the founder and CEO of ReCellular. “As a result, both countries are vital to our strategic global expansion in the recycling and reselling of mobile phones.”
In the United States, ReCellular currently maintains two facilities – its corporate headquarters located in Dexter, Mich., and a refurbishing and repair complex in Fort Worth, Texas.
ReCellular was founded in 1991 with the pioneering concept of refurbishing, reusing and recycling discarded cell phones. Today the average U.S. consumer replaces their cell phone every 18 months. However, they only recycle a small percent of the estimated 130 million cell phones retired each year.
ReCellular offers consumers a number of ways to securely and conveniently recycle their old cell phones. Consumers can visit www.wirelessrecycling.com to find a ReCellular drop-off site in their area. ReCellular currently has over 40,000 drop-off sites nationwide, found in many wireless retailers, manufacturers and carriers. Many of the phones collected benefit charities through an innovative cell-phone donation program. ReCellular expects to raise more than $5 million for charities in 2007, paying up to $50 for donated phones.
To protect consumer privacy, ReCellular developed the Cell Phone Data Eraser™, also available at www.wirelessrecycling.com. The Cell Phone Data Eraser is a free online resource that enables consumers to quickly and effectively erase personal cell phone information – such as call history, contact information, text messages, and photos – from more than 600 cell phone models prior to recycling or donation.
Approximately half of the phones ReCellular collects are refurbished and resold to wholesale companies in over 40 countries around the world. In 2007, ReCellular expects to refurbish and resell more than 2 million handsets, accounting for 25 percent of the global market for refurbished handsets.
ReCellular works with recycling partners to reclaim valuable materials from handsets and components that cannot be resold. In 2007, ReCellular expects to recycle 120,000 pounds of materials, including copper wiring from phone chargers, precious metals from circuit boards, and plastic from phone cases and accessories.
ReCellular’s successful business model for extracting value from discarded phones through recycling and refurbishing earned the company recognition as one of Inc. Magazine’s “Green 50” companies that are driving the green revolution in business.
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 and wholesale information is available at www.ReCellular.com. Consumer information, including the Cell Phone Data Eraser and charity fundraising information, is available at www.wirelessrecycling.com.
About VIVO
Vivo, controlled by the groups Portugal Telecom and Telefónica, is the largest mobile telecommunications operator in the South Hemisphere. The company is a leader in the retail market and also in the corporate segment, for which supplies solutions through Vivo Empresas business unit. Among the qualities that differentiate Vivo from competitors are the coverage and the innovative character of services of voice and data transmission, such as Internet mobile broadband access, transmission of video and other on-line communication formats.