We are excited to present you to a program that celebrates the last two Nobel Peace Prize winning initiatives: (2006) microfinance and the (2007) environment.

In one sentence: We recycle used cell phones, or waste harmful to the environment, to fund microfinance loans to the poor and "Turn Phones into Loans." 

Our two main pillars are electronic waste and microfinance.

1) Electronic Waste:

Each cell phone contains no less than 8 toxic elements (lead, cadmium, mercury, nickel, and arsenic) which can pollute up to 35,000 gallons of our communities drinking water.  With an annual rate of 170 million cell phones being retired, it is important to dispose of them correctly.

What normally happens to these old cell phones?

     1) They are thrown away (which is horrible for the environment).
     2) They are left to collect dust in sock drawers.  
     3) They are recycled!

According to informinc.org, less than 20% of those 170 million retired each year are recycled. RTEP offers you an easy opportunity to make the right decision of protecting the environment by recycling your cell phones.

2) Microfinance:
Many organizations raise food or clothes to assist those in need. That is not what we do. We enable small loans to impoverished women; many of whom live on less than a dollar per day so that they can work together to create a business or project. Using that small loan, a borrower might buy a cow to sell milk or raw materials to make textiles.

With microfinance, borrowers can create a sustainable income for themselves so that, over time, they can self-sufficiently buy their own food and their own clothes. In this sense we lend a hand-up, not a hand-out! We’re teaching people how to fish, so to speak. The greatest part is our 97% repayment rate with borrowers. We take pride in affiliating ourselves with Dr. Muhammad Yunus; the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Grameen Bank.
 

In one sentence: We recycle used cell phones, or waste harmful to the environment, to fund microfinance loans to the poor and "Turn Phones into Loans."

How do we “Turn Phones into Loans?”

Some of the phones we receive have value and some do not.  They all need to be recycled however, regardless if we can raise money with them.

No Value:

The ones that do not have value are recycled according to EPA guidelines in the United States.  They are all broken down to their original elements so that the toxic chemicals are effectively disposed of; receiving a certificate of destruction.  We pride ourselves in making sure that environmental justice is served here and items do not end up in local landfills or abroad.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case for other e-waste recycling initiatives.

Value:

The ones that do have value are sold by Phoneraiser, in most cases, to refurbishing companies who then reuse these phones to enter secondary markets.  Note that reusing is a better option than recycling.  In these emerging markets, it is hard for someone to buy a $500 iphone or Blackberry.  But by reusing this technology within a certain margin of $20-$60, the opportunity of telecommunication around the world is extended to people who might not normally be able to utilize it. 

Money received from Phoneraiser for the collection of these cell phones, with value determined by the market price list, is donated directly to The Chiapas Project & Grameen Foundation.