Automation Alley Company to Launch Recycling Initiative in China

The Wireless Source, a Bloomfield Hills company that is one of the world's leading distributors of new, used and remanufactured wireless phones, will kick off a pilot program in China on October 1 to determine the potential market for reused cellular phones in that country of 1.2 billion people.

The Wireless Source, a Bloomfield Hills company that is one of the world's leading distributors of new, used and remanufactured wireless phones, will kick off a pilot program in China on October 1 to determine the potential market for reused cellular phones in that country of 1.2 billion people.

The initiative, which will have both a recycling and reuse component, is the result of the company's participation in an Automation Alley trade mission to China in May. During that visit, Wireless Source president Bob Sullivan says he discovered that while China has the largest mobile phone network in the world, only ten percent of the population has access to it.

"One of the primary barriers to wireless communication in the Chinese market is the average cost of cell phones which is about $120 U.S. dollars," Sullivan said. "This is cost prohibitive for many Chinese who earn only about a dollar a day."

Although there are some 140 million to 150 million cell phones currently in use throughout China, most are owned by middle and upper income Chinese who are repeat buyers. This group, says Sullivan, far exceeds the number of first-time buyers in China.

Our approach to this untapped market is to reduce the barrier to ownership by providing remanufactured cell phones at about half the cost," Sullivan said.

Some 50 retail distribution points will be set up in Shanghai, Beijing and Suzhou where citizens will have an opportunity to bring in their used phones and receive new ones at a significantly discounted price. Phones that can be reused will be rehabilitated and resold. Cell phones that can't be reused will be recycled in an environmentally safe manner. The program is similar to one the Wireless Source is currently engaged in with Automation Alley's Recycling Electronics and Pollution Prevention (REAP2) project.

Sullivan says as far as he knows, no other companies have made an effort to tap this portion of the cell phone market in China.

"The Wireless Source experience in China proves the value of Automation Alley sponsored trade missions for our local companies," said Ken Rogers, executive director of Automation Alley. "These trips provide a valuable opportunity for our companies to reach new export markets."

The China trade mission in May as well as the one to Germany last fall and two others planned for next year to Germany and Mexico are made possible through a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The September 2001 trade mission to Dusseldorf, Germany resulted in approximately $3 million in business for local companies.

Visit The Wireless Source at http://www.thewirelesssource.com
Visit The Charitable Recycling Program at http://www.charitablerecycling.com