On Earth Day, Verizon Wireless Reaffirms Its Commitment To Recycling And The Environment

04/19/2006, BEDMINSTER, NJ — According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States recycles only 28% of its waste. On Earth Day 2006, Verizon Wireless encourages consumers to recycle their old wireless phones. Last year, in the weeks surrounding Earth Day, Verizon Wireless collected more than 100,000 no-longer-used phones through its national HopeLine® program. This year, Verizon Wireless again makes it simple for people in local communities to increase the number of phones collected and help consumers do their part to protect the Earth’s resources.

Wireless Phone Recycling
HopeLine makes it easy to recycle on Earth Day -- and every day of the year. HopeLine regularly holds phone collection drives at sporting events, concerts and store openings in communities from coast to coast. Consumers can check their local community calendars to find upcoming HopeLine events in their areas.

Wireless customers who want to re cycle their phones, but do not have a scheduled phone drive in their area, can drop-off old wireless phones and accessories from any wireless service provider at their local Verizon Wireless Communications Store. A list of all Verizon Wireless Communications Stores can be found at www.verizonwireless.com.

Wireless phones that are collected through HopeLine are recycled or refurbished, with proceeds benefiting victims of domestic violence and local non-profit advocacy agencies. Since the HopeLine phone recycling efforts began in 2001, consumers have donated nearly three million phones to HopeLine and more than 600,000 phones have been recycled.

Battery Recycling Programs
In addition to wireless phones, Verizon Wireless also collects spent rechargeable batteries for recycling. The Verizon Wireless Cell Phone Battery Recycling program is an easy way for customers to join with Verizon Wireless to help c onserve the earth’s natural resources and prevent spent batt! eries fr om entering community landfills. In 2005 alone, nearly 150,000 pounds of batteries were recycled through the HopeLine and Charge Up to Recycle programs, almost double the amount recycled in 2004.

Using Less Paper for Billing
Verizon Wireless also encourages its customers to conserve resources through the company’s streamlined and online billing options. Verizon Wireless offers consolidated billing across the country, resulting in about 40 percent less paper used to produce customers’ monthly billing statements.

Customers are still able to view itemized charges to their bills through My Account, which provides a single source for online customer service and account information and is ideal for environmentally conscious customers who prefer to access their account online. Customers can access My Account by visiting www.verizonwireless.com/myaccount, and entering an account number and password.

Tog ether, Verizon Wireless’ streamlined and paperless billing help reduce the amount of paper used for customer bills by more than 800 million sheets per year, preserving more than 11,000 trees annually. In addition, these steps save more than 5.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity and more than 240,000 pounds of ink each year.

For more information on Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine program or for instructions on donating wireless phones or rechargeable batteries, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation’s most reliable wireless network, serving 51.3 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high! -resolut ion stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Contact Information

Debra Lewis

Media Contact

Verizon Wireless

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