Bored mobile phones are valuable – 1,500 small electronic devices were brought back to Auchan for recycling

Between April 22 and May 22, customers and employees could drop off their unwanted mobile phones, tablets, chargers, cables, earphones, and other small electronic devices in collection boxes located in all Auchan stores across the country. A total of nearly 1,500 devices were collected during the campaign, which indicates that there is still quite a lot of e-waste lying around in households, but fortunately more and more people are recognizing the environmental and social responsibility of properly managing it.

The “Passzold visszállás, Tesó!” campaign was created by the Jane Goodall Institute, the KÖVET Association, the Afrikaért Foundation, and the Védegylet Association. The initiative aims to draw attention to the effects of mining metals found in electronic devices, such as coltan, which typically originate in Africa. The extraction of coltan contributes to the destruction of African rainforests and the shrinking of primate habitats, including gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. However, through recycling, up to 16 different metals can be recovered from the devices, thus reducing the need for new mining.

Auchan stores provided collection points easily accessible to everyone during the campaign. The devices returned were sent to recycling plants through the organizers’ professional partners, where they can become raw materials for new electronic products after proper processing.

More information about the campaign can be found at http://www.auchan.hu/passzold-vissza-tesoweboldalon.