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Recycling Report Card
Why the Wireless Industry Fails to Make the
Grade
The wireless industry fails miserably when it comes
to dealing with their cell phone e-waste.
In its new Cell
Phone Recycling Report Card,
the Recycle
My Cell Phone campaign --
- reveals the problem
with a survey of wireless customers, and visits/calls
to leading wireless companies' retail outlets;
- and
calls upon the wireless industry to
responsibly
deal
with
its
e-waste.
The Players
Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless control 86% of the wireless
market in the U.S.
These "big four" have partnered with one recycling/refurbishing company
-- ReCellular.
The Problems
- Over 98
percent of retired cell
phones are not recycled.
- 130 million phones are discarded each year -- representing 65,000
tons of waste containing toxics such as lead, cadmium, arsenic,
mercury.
- 84% of surveyed wireless customers
don't know if their provider has a recycling
program.
- The "big four" do have recycling programs -- but they don't
publicize them adequately.
- ReCellular won't allow public
scrutiny of its recycling practices/facilities.
- ReCellular is the only company to have been removed for noncompliance
from the Electronics Recycler's
Pledge of True Stewardship .
The Solution
The wireless industry should commit to --
- Responsibly process the phones that are collected.
- Get the word out. Collect more phones for recycling.
- Transparency so that the public can verify
its recycling efforts.
Take Action! Tell
the wireless industry to take responsibility for its e-waste.
For More Information
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