Latin America – phone recycling programme

ReCellular Inc., a major wireless equipment reuse facilitator, and AHCIET, the Hispanic-American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunication Companies, has announced the signing of a new five-year agreement making ReCellular the exclusive provider of cell phone recycling and refurbishing services for AHCIET member companies. The agreement spreads the environmental and social benefits of cell phone recycling to millions of wireless customers throughout South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.



Founded over 20 years ago, AHCIET is the largest wireless industry association in Spain and Latin America. Its goal is to promote growth among its member companies by championing issues critical to industry development, by facilitating partnerships, and by educating the public on key wireless topics and services. The association is comprised of 60 member companies in 20 Latin American countries, servicing a combined customer base of more than 80 million people.



ReCellular, based in the U.S., reconditions, resells, and/or recycles millions of wireless products annually. ReCellular has more than 5 years experience in creating and implementing handset collection programs in the United States and Canada. In the US, most of the phones ReCellular receives are donated through recycling programs conducted by non-profit organizations and wireless service providers. Refurbished phones are eventually sold in areas of the world where new phones are cost-prohibitive for many people; proceeds are shared with either the sponsoring charity or a non-profit named by the wireless provider.



In late March 2004, AHCIET announced it was joining forces with ALACEL, the Latin American Association of the Wireless Industry, to form a stronger and more powerful association for wireless providers. Four months before the merger announcement, ReCellular had signed a recycling partnership with ALACEL; this relationship provided the impetus for the ReCellular-AHCIET agreement announced today.



Industry statistics show that of the more than one billion wireless handsets in use worldwide, over 100 million are owned by residents of Latin America, with that number expected to double over the next five years. By donating used or unwanted phones for recycling or reuse, individuals are reducing the amount of electronic componentry that reach landfills and providing useful products for people around the world.