Give new life to old gadgets! – results of the 2025 “Pass it back, bro!” campaign

By: Trademagazin Date: 2026. 01. 13. 10:36

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The “Pass Back, Brother!” used mobile phone collection campaign took place for the 8th time in 2025. In 2018, the Jane Goodall Institute launched a joint campaign with the KÖVET Association, the Afrikaért Alapitvány, EMLA and the Védegylet Association, which targets mobile devices no longer used in Hungarian households. The campaign collects small electronic devices such as obsolete mobile phones, GPS navigators, smartwatches and tablets that no longer work.

The results of the 2025 campaign in numbers:

Number of devices collected: 10095 pcs
Weight of devices collected: 1112 kg
Number of collection points: 269 pcs
Number of participants reached: 285258 people

The most successful collectors of the campaign and the non-monetary prizes offered by the organizers (Jane Goodall Institute and KÖVET Association) per category:

Large company – Robert Bosch Kft. / Chimpanzee adoption and professional presentation,
SME – NHSZ Zounok Zrt. / Chimpanzee adoption and professional presentation,
Educational institution – Laky Ilonka Elementary School, Ecser / Chimpanzee adoption and professional presentation,
Kindergarten – Komáromi Szőnyi Colorful Kindergarten / Chimpanzee adoption + book package,
Public institution – Hungarian Geographical Museum, Érd / Chimpanzee adoption and professional presentation,
Most creative special award: Güntner-Tata Refrigeration Ltd. – Their collection box was made from wood and plastic waste from the company’s packaging department, and the gorilla decorating the box was made from the back of a refrigerator. / Chimpanzee adoption and professional presentation.

The ore called coltan, which is a depleting resource and is needed to produce small electronic devices, is mined in the habitat of endangered species, gorillas and chimpanzees in Africa, thereby consuming their habitat. Mining often involves child or slave labor. At the end of their life cycle, mobile phones often end up as waste, polluting the environment. The “Pass it Back, Brother!” campaign aims to stop this process. The participants in the collaboration have decided to collect these mobile phones for recycling. They ask everyone to look around their homes, take out their old mobile phones, find a collection point and throw them in their designated box. The used phones collected in closed boxes are taken over by their partner Gorillapont.hu, ultimately Goldwater Recycling Ltd. and Inter-Metal Recycling Ltd. for recycling and processing.

The campaign is also supported by Magyar Telekom Plc. and MOHU Zrt., but we are still waiting for the help of supporters to continue the collection. In 2026, everyone who has an unused “gadget” in their account at home is welcome to apply, as well as companies that offer their replaced company fleet phones. If someone would like to have a collection point at their workplace, school, or even an event and can provide them with an appearance and advertise the possibility of dropping them off, feel free to contact the Jane Goodall Institute or the data-linkindex=”2″>KÖVET Association website, and inquire at the mobil@janegoodall.hu email address.