Contact:

Tirza Wibel, (800) 370-6580 Ext. 6, tirza.wibel@corecubed.com

New California Ruling Makes Throwing Away Cell Phones Illegal;
Local Zoos Offer Recycling Option

Eight California Zoos Partner with Phone Recycler, ECO - CELL, to Collect Used
Phones and Raise Funds for Conservation Programs

Louisville, KY (February 28, 2006) – On February 9, 2006 a new rule took effect in California making it illegal to toss electronic waste, including used cell phones, into the garbage. In order to help keep cell phones out of landfills and support conservation efforts, eight California zoos and wildlife parks have partnered with ECO - CELL, a Louisville-based cell phone recycling and fundraising company, to collect and recycle used cell phones.

Zoos participating in the program include: The San Diego Zoo (San Diego), Santa Ana Zoo (Santa Ana), Santa Barbara Zoo (Santa Barbara), Happy Hollow Park and Zoo (San Jose), Living Desert Zoo and Gardens (Palm Desert), Wildlife Waystation (Angels National Forrest), Charles Paddock Zoo (Atascadero) and San Diego Wild Animal Park (Escondido).

As part of the program the participating zoos gather cell phones at drop boxes at the zoo and turn the phones over to ECO - CELL who sells the phones to companies that refurbish and sell them to first-time users abroad. Phones that cannot be resold are recycled using best demonstrated technologies for recycling. A portion of phones are also donated to senior citizens' centers and battered women shelters. The proceeds from the sale of the phones go back to the zoos to raise funds for their specific conservation programs. The partnership also helps increase awareness of the damaging effects of cell phones that end up in landfills, furthering the zoos' mission of conservation education. In addition to the collection boxes at the participating zoos, used phones can also be mailed directly to ECO - CELL with the proceeds being allocated to a specific zoo.

The ban on electronic waste was instituted by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and requires Californians to take cell phones and other e-waste to locations that are specially equipped to handle the potentially toxic agents they contain. Stemming from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules that ban the disposal of mercury and lead in landfills, California is the first state to instate such a comprehensive ban against e-waste.

Due to constantly changing technology, the average lifespan for cell phones is 14 months. According to the EPA there are over 500 million broken or unusable cell phones in the U.S. with over 130 million added each year. Less than 2% are recycled. According to INFORM Inc., 130 million cell phones are discarded annually in the United States . Of these, 75% will end up in landfills where their toxins like lead and arsenic are likely to poison groundwater.

Recycling cell phones protects landfills from the many potentially hazardous chemicals found in the phones, including antimony, arsenic, copper, cadmium, lead, and zinc,” said Eric Ronay, president of ECO - CELL . “We're not only helping save the environment but providing an extremely easy fundraising program, satisfying a demand for cellular technology in emerging markets and helping zoos fund vital conservation programs. The trick is to make cell phone recycling easy for the public to participate in. With over 134 million visitors each year, North American Zoos are in the perfect position to collect large quantities of abandoned phones ”

About ECO - CELL

ECO - CELL is a cell phone recycling and fundraising company that works with a variety of associations, particularly zoos and conservations programs, to collect used cell phones and raise funds. ECO - CELL helps keep cell phones out of landfills and provides organizations with a turn-key, environmentally focused fund-raising program. ECO - CELL works with over 50 zoos across North America and Canada including the Zoo Atlanta, Denver Zoo , Philadelphia Zoo, Cleveland Zoo, Phoenix Zoo, Louisville Zoo , Living Desert , and Jardin Zoologique du Quebec . For more information visit: www.eco-cell.org .