Help Keep California Beautiful – Recycle That Used Cell Phone!

San Diego, CA...Keep California Beautiful

(KCB), a statewide environmental education organization headquartered in San Diego, has announced the launch of a statewide partnership to heighten awareness of the importance of collecting and recycling old used cell phones. KCB is urging all Californians to help eliminate hazardous waste from our state’s landfills by recycling their old used cell phones and help Keep California Beautiful at the same time.

Help Eliminate Wireless Waste
There are over 500 million used cell phones in the U.S. sitting idle in desk drawers, garages, offices, etc with another 130 million estimated to be added in 2006. Cell phones contain a large amount of hazardous materials that can pollute air when incinerated and seep into drinking water when buried in landfills. These hazardous materials include arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc.

The California State Assembly passed legislation that took effect on July 1, 2006 (AB 2901) that requires all wireless retailers to establish a cell phone collection and recycling program. In addition, Californians are also restricted from throwing old cell phones into the trash. Since 2002, households and small businesses have been exempt from the state's Universal Waste Rule, which applies to certain hazardous waste generated by individuals. This exemption expired on February 8, 2006.

It’s Easy to Recycle that Phone! In partnership with Wireless Alliance, KCB is conducting one of the largest coordinated cell phone collection and recycling campaigns in California to keep our communities safe from the harmful effects of improperly disposed cell phones. Visit www.keepcaliforniabeautiful.org and click on "Donate Your Cell Phone." All phones collected through KCB's program will be properly recycled at no cost to the donor, and in most cases postage is also provided. Wireless retailers and other businesses can also request postage-paid collection boxes to collect cell phones from employees and customers. A percentage of the value of the used cell phone goes to KCB in support of their environmental education programs. 1 of 4

About Keep California Beautiful
Keep California Beautiful (KCB) is a statewide non-profit environmental education organization chartered by the state in 1990. KCB has a network of over 100 cities and counties throughout the state dedicated to encouraging individual responsibility for California’s environment through community based litter prevention and recycling action projects. KCB sponsors over 700 cleanup and beautification projects throughout the state and provides resources, training and education activities to all member cities committed to litter prevention and beautification in their communities. For additional information, visit www.keepcaliforniabeautiful.org.