Nokia promotes mobile phone recycling
People own around 5 phones in their lives, yet only 9 per cent of mobile phone owners are recycling their used or old phones, according to a survey by Nokia.
The global consumer survey also reveals that 44 per cent of old mobile phones are lying in drawers at home and not being recycled.
The survey encouraged Nokia Thailand to launch a recycling project, in cooperation with Future Park, and the Pollution Control Department. From today to Sept 12, "Weee Can Do Project" campaign calls for drop-offs of unused mobile device or accessorty with names and addresses at the shopping centre, to entitle participants to a lucky draw for a new Nokia phone. Nokia will also donate money for every phone dropped off to the Chaipattana Foundation to support its charity works.
“Nokia has always strived for connecting people to contribute to environmental sustainability. This includes using 100 per cent recycle-able materials to produce Nokia devices and supporting mobile phones recycling,” said Nontawan Sindhvananda, head of marketing, Nokia Thailand and Emerging Asia. “Since 2008 that Nokia has started our mobile phones recycling campaign, more and more people have sent their mobile phones for recycling each year. This year, Nokia has joined hands with Future Park, one of Thailand’s biggest shopping centers, to encourage mobile phones recycling among public.”
Future Park joins the project as it matches the business policies, said Jittinan Wanglee, executive vice president (Business Development & Marketing). “At Future Park, we utilize ‘reduce, reuse, and recycle’ concept by reducing our energy consumption, reusing our waste water after treatment, and recycling garbages. As a result, Future Park will become a green shopping centre that people can come to experience and serve as the center of environmental projects for public participation.”
To Rangsan Pinthong, Director of Waste and Hazardous Substance Management Bureau, Pollution Control Department, the project is a good example on how to handle waste electrical and electronic equipment as well as support for product reuse.
The project is highly appreciated as it is originated by private sectors. The recent flood should be a lesson for the public to realise the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling to limit the impact of massive waste like what we faced after flood, and joining this project can be a good start of implementation," Rangsan said.
