What ECO-CELL does

ECO-CELL (legal name: ecocell) is a privately held, family-operated electronics recycling business headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, founded in 2003 by Eric Ronay. The company purchases and recycles end-of-life consumer electronics — primarily cell phones, along with tablets, smartwatches, MP3 players, GPS units, earbuds, VR headsets, and digital cameras — and channels the economic value of those devices into wildlife conservation, with gorilla conservation as the lead cause. Operations are run by three core team members: Eric Ronay as owner/operator, Josh Sachs as Chief Ethics Officer and processor, and Lindsey Ronay on bookkeeping.

The company's go-to-market is structured as a partner-channel model. ECO-CELL works with over 100 conservation organizations across North America — predominantly zoos, aquariums, and wildlife NGOs (including the Jane Goodall Institute, Cincinnati Zoo, San Francisco Zoo, Zoo New England, and GRACE) — that serve as physical dropoff points and as collection hubs that ship devices to ECO-CELL free of charge. The program is free to participating organizations; ECO-CELL covers shipping, assesses each device, and pays the organization based on assessed value. End-of-life devices that cannot be reused are routed exclusively through R2-certified reclamation companies, which handle material recovery including precious metals.

Revenue is generated from two streams: resale of refurbished/reusable devices and material reclamation (precious metals and components). The payments made to partner organizations are funded out of these reclamation and resale proceeds. The business is bootstrapped with no institutional investment, has operated continuously for over two decades, and has processed more than 1,000,000 cell phones cumulatively. There is no evidence of paid enterprise customers, software product, or non-North American operations.

Name

ECO-CELL

Legal name

ecocell

Website

https://eco-cell.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ECO-CELL is a Louisville-based, family-operated electronics recycler founded in 2003 that collects cell phones and small consumer electronics through 100+ North American conservation organization partners and channels proceeds into gorilla and wildlife conservation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electronics Recycling Services

NAICS

Used Merchandise Retailers (459510)

akta.pro primary industry

Mobile Device (Smartphone/Tablet) Trade-in & Recycling (BPALAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Electronics Refurbishment, Repair & Reuse (Remarketing/Resale) (BPALAIAD), Electronics Recycling & Material Recovery (Dismantling/Separation) (BPALAIAE), Consumer E-waste Collection & Take-Back Programs (EUAIAIAA)

Keywords

• Cell phone recycling
• Electronics recycling
• E-waste management
• Wildlife conservation funding
• Precious metal reclamation

Headquarters

HQ city

Louisville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Electronics recycling and material reclamation: ECO-CELL collects end-of-life electronics (cell phones, tablets, smartwatches, etc.) from partner organizations. Devices that can be reused are resold. Devices that cannot be reused are recycled via R2 certified reclamation companies. Revenue is generated from selling reclaimed materials (precious metals) and refurbished devices. The company pays partner organizations for devices received, creating a two-way transaction model where revenue from material reclamation covers these payments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ECO-CELL purchases and recycles cell phones, tablets, smartwatches, and other hand-held electronics collected through a network of more than 100 conservation partner organizations (zoos, aquariums, and wildlife nonprofits) across North America. Reusable devices are resold; non-reusable devices are processed via R2 certified reclamation companies to recover precious metals and other materials. Revenue from material reclamation and refurbished device sales is shared with partner organizations to fund wildlife conservation, particularly gorilla conservation.

Product overview

ECO-CELL offers a cell phone and electronics recycling program focused on wildlife conservation. The company's core offering is its recycling service that collects unwanted electronic devices, processes them through R2 certified reclamation companies, and uses the proceeds to fund gorilla and wildlife conservation efforts. The company operates a network of over 100 dropoff locations across North American zoos and conservation organizations. The program is free for participating organizations, with ECO-CELL paying for shipping and compensating organizations based on device value.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cell Phone and Electronics Recycling Program ECO-CELL's primary service: collecting, processing, and recycling unwanted cell phones and small electronics from conservation partner organizations and the public, then converting their assessed value into funds for wildlife conservation (especially gorilla conservation). The program is free for participating organizations, with ECO-CELL paying partners for every device received and covering shipping costs.
• Dropoff Location Network A North America-wide network of more than 100 conservation partner locations (zoos, aquariums, and wildlife nonprofits including San Francisco Zoo, Los Angeles Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo, Bronx Zoo, and others) that serve as physical dropoff points where individuals and organizations can drop off cell phones and small electronics for recycling by ECO-CELL.
• Conservation Partner Recycling Program A targeted program for conservation organizations (zoos, aquariums, wildlife NGOs) that aggregate donated electronics and ship them directly to ECO-CELL's Louisville, KY facility. ECO-CELL pays for shipping and compensates the organization based on the assessed value of devices received, with those proceeds funding the partner's conservation mission.
• E-Gadget Recycling Service Recycling service for a defined list of accepted small electronic devices beyond cell phones — including iPads/tablets, iPods/mp3 players, GPS units, smartwatches, AirPods/earbuds, VR headsets, digital cameras, and associated cords and cables — processed through the same conservation-partner-driven collection model. Non-reusable units are routed to R2 certified reclamation partners for material recovery.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 million cell phones recycled for gorilla conservation

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Gorillas on the LinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual electronics recycling challenge hosted by zoos and aquariums. Designed to raise funds for gorilla conservation and increase public awareness of threats to gorillas from mining of resources used to manufacture electronics. ECO-CELL participates as the recycling partner for this initiative.
• GRACE (Grauer's Gorilla Conservation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term conservation partner focused on protecting Grauer's gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. ECO-CELL supports their mission through electronics recycling, which helps reduce coltan mining pressure on gorilla habitats.
• Zoo New EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZoo New England recycles cell phones to protect animals like western lowland gorillas that live in areas where cell phone materials are mined. Part of their conservation outreach program.
• Cincinnati ZoocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides a direct way for guests and supporters to make a difference by recycling cell phones. Funds raised go directly to field conservation projects across the globe, including western lowland gorilla studies in the Congo.
• Jane Goodall Institute (JGI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJGI chose ECO-CELL because 'Electronic recycling is a complicated industry, and only a company with the right motivations and practices could align with JGI's mission to protect chimpanzees, and all great apes, as well as the environment we share.'
• R2 Certified Reclamation CompaniesminorOthersAll e-gadgets which can't be reused are recycled via R2 certified or better reclamation companies. R2 is a standard for responsible electronics recycling that ensures data security and environmental protection.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Call2Recycle: Operator of the largest consumer battery and electronics collection program in North America. Comparable as a non-profit-aligned, drop-off-network-driven e-waste collection and recycling organization.
• Swappa: Peer-to-peer marketplace for buying and selling used smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Comparable in the used-mobile-device resale category.
• SellCell: Comparison marketplace and direct buyer of used smartphones and electronics. Comparable in the device-buyback funnel ECO-CELL relies on for inbound volume.
• Back Market: Marketplace for refurbished consumer electronics including smartphones and tablets. Comparable as a downstream buyer and channel for ECO-CELL's reusable-device inventory.
• Gazelle: Online trade-in platform that buys used smartphones, tablets, and laptops and resells refurbished devices. Directly comparable business model: collect used mobile devices, refurbish or recycle, and capture resale spread.
• ReCellular: R2-certified cell phone refurbishment and recycling company operating processing, data wiping, and resale operations. Directly comparable on the downstream processing and reuse side of ECO-CELL's model.
• ecoATM (ecoATM by Gazelle): Operates automated kiosks that buy used cell phones and electronics for cash or charity. Closest direct competitor in the cell phone buyback and recycling category, with substantially greater scale and retail footprint.
• Decluttr: Buyback service for used tech (phones, tablets, CDs, books) that refurbishes and resells items. Comparable inbound-device acquisition model to ECO-CELL.

Broad incumbents

• Best Buy Tech Trade-In: National retailer-operated trade-in program for consumer electronics. Comparable consumer-facing take-back mechanism, offered as part of a large omnichannel retail operation.
• Apple Trade In: OEM take-back program that issues credit for used Apple devices. Competes for the same inbound used-device supply, but as part of a much broader retail and services portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ecocell
• Instagraminstagram.com/ecocellrecycle
• Xx.com/eco_cell
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eco-cell

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ECO-CELL