RecycleBank Grows By More Than 400 Percent in 2007

Business Wire, Dec 18, 2007

Recycling Program Has Banner Year and Anticipates Nationwide Expansion in 2008

PHILADELPHIA & NEW YORK -- RecycleBank[TM], a rewards program that motivates people to recycle, today announced 483 percent growth for 2007, expanding from servicing six municipalities in 2006 to 35 today, and is now in more than 125,000 households in the United States. RecycleBank households diverted almost 40 million pounds of recyclables from the waste stream this year, saving almost 200,000 trees and 13 million gallons of oil.

RecycleBank motivates households and communities to recycle by rewarding them for the amount they've recycled. RecycleBank measures that amount of material and then converts it into RecycleBank Points that can be used at national RecycleBank Reward Partner locations like Starbucks Coffee, CVS/pharmacy and Whole Foods as well as local reward partner locations like grocery stores and restaurants.

In 2007, participating RecycleBank households redeemed more than $1 million RecycleBank Points, thus putting that money back into the local economies in participating communities. Additionally, more than 150 new RecycleBank Reward Partners signed on to participate this year, bringing the grand total to more than 400 participating local and national retailers. RecycleBank's long-term connection with households enables reward partners to recognize the vast and unique marketing and advertising opportunities in RecycleBank.

"RecycleBank's rapid expansion reflects our commitment to the environment, market-driven mentality and proven program," said Ron Gonen, co-founder and CEO of RecycleBank. "In December of last year, RecycleBank was in 20,000 homes. Today, RecycleBank is servicing more than 125,000 homes, and expects to have 500,000 households under contract in 2008."

Municipalities look to RecycleBank to dramatically increase recycling rates while lowering landfill fees. Communities like Wilmington, Del., have raised citywide recycling diversion rates to almost 35 percent with the RecycleBank program. After one week of participation, Cherry Hill, N.J., saw a 134 percent increase in recycling rates, with the amount of recyclables more than doubling from about 12 pounds per household to nearly 26 pounds.

With more municipalities joining the program, RecycleBank has also broadened its waste hauler partnerships, contracting established waste haulers such as George Leck & Sons, Opendaker Waste Removal, Casella Waste Systems, Inc. and Republic Waste Services of NJ, LLC. Waste haulers see RecycleBank's unique offering as a business differentiator and a positive value-add to their customers.

"As a company whose core mission is to exceed our customers' highest expectations, our partnership with RecycleBank was a natural fit," said Michael Murphy, General Manager of Republic Services of NJ, LLC. "The tremendous success in Cherry Hill showcases how a combination of incentive-driven recycling and a waste hauler with a strong environmental and customer commitment can work together to create a more sustainable community."

This month RecycleBank added a new office in New York City to enable the company to have more of a presence in the area as it looks to expand services throughout the country.

Ongoing success of RecycleBank also allowed the company to grow internally to drive its goal of expanding nationwide. RecycleBank filled several key leadership positions this year including:

* Matthew Tucker, president

* Kimberly Crail, chief financial officer

* Frank Yang, chief technology officer

* Morley Ivers, chief rewards officer

* Tom Olson, senior vice president ad sales

* Atul Nanda, president RecycleBank Canada

"RecycleBank continues to impress us with its rapidly expanding program and unprecedented results," said Josh Dorfman, author, "The Lazy Environmentalist: Your Guide to Easy, Stylish, Green Living." "If 2007 is any indication of the company's future then we should expect to see tremendous growth, expansion and success in 2008."

About RecycleBank

RecycleBank is a rewards program that motivates people to recycle. It does this by quickly and easily measuring the amount of material each home recycles and then converting that activity into RecycleBank Points that can be used at hundreds of local and national rewards partners. RecycleBank is simple to implement, market-driven and proven to work, saving municipalities' money and rewarding citizens for their environmental stewardship. RRE Ventures and Sigma Partners are the largest institutional shareholder group and Ron Gonen, the co-founder and CEO is the largest individual shareholder. Visit www.recyclebank.com for more information.