WASHINGTON, DC – CTIA-The Wireless Association® commended the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and partnering companies today for launching a new education campaign, "Recycle Your Cell Phone. It's An Easy Call." According to the EPA announcement, the campaign aims to increase public awareness of cell phone recycling and donation opportunities, with the ultimate goal of increasing the nation's cell phone recycling rate.

 

"Maintaining a successful national, consumer-friendly wireless recycling program has been a longstanding priority for the wireless industry," said CTIA-The Wireless Association® President and CEO, Steve Largent. "Any additional effort to raise public awareness and spotlight the important issue of wireless recycling is a good thing in my book. We welcome the new campaign and look forward to working with the EPA and partnering companies as we continue to spread the message about how easy it is to recycle cell phones."

The wireless industry launched a comprehensive, nationwide recycling campaign called "Wireless…The New Recyclable™," in 2003. The public outreach and awareness campaign provides wireless consumers with information about the importance of recycling wireless devices. The campaign has also focused on alerting consumers about how they can recycle their used devices. The centerpiece of the campaign has been the establishment of in-store phone take-back programs across the country that allow consumers to bring their used wireless devices and related accessories to carrier and other retail outlets for recycling. You can learn more about Wireless…The New Recyclable™ by visiting http://www.recyclewirelessphones.com.

"It's easy for consumers across the country to recycle their wireless phones and devices. There are thousands of drop-off locations, including major wireless carrier retail stores, and there are mail-in programs, that collect all makes and models of wireless phones, accessories and chargers," continued Largent. "Thanks to the wireless industry's commitment to wireless recycling, millions of phones have been collected and kept out of landfills."

Important tips to remember before recycling wireless phones:

    * Terminate your service.
    * Clear the phone's memory of contacts and other stored personal information by utilizing the Cell Phone Data Eraser at http://wirelessrecycling.com/home/data_eraser/.
    * Remove your phone's SIM card, if it has one. Phones that operate on GSM networks use SIM cards. If you are not sure if your phone uses a SIM card or if you need assistance removing your SIM card, contact your wireless provider.


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CTIA is the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry,
representing carriers, manufacturers and wireless Internet providers.
http://www.ctia.org