Recyklohry, an educational program by the producer responsibility organization ASEKOL SK, and Orange Slovensko have teamed up again to bring the excitement of collecting old, unused mobile phones to schools. The collected phones will not end up in landfills; instead, thanks to this initiative, the materials contained in the phones will get a second chance. They will be ecologically recycled, and some materials will be reused in the production of new products.

In the previous year, participating schools managed to collect an impressive 24,506 mobile phones. This school year, the number was surpassed, and an incredible 29,106 phones were collected across 219 schools involved in the collection throughout Slovakia, representing the highest number since the competition began. Thanks to these collected phones, it is possible to save over a million liters of water, approximately 29,000 kg of oil, and more than 1,300,000 kWh of energy.

And since it was a competition, many schools, students, and coordinators were rewarded.

The main prize of 1,000 EUR was donated by Orange to five schools for the implementation of their green idea, i.e., a project with an environmental concept. The reward was given to Stará Lesná Kindergarten, Skalka nad Váhom Private Elementary School with Kindergarten, Iliašovce Elementary School, Kuchyňa Elementary School with Kindergarten, and Bieloruská Elementary School in Bratislava. Several schools received tickets to Cinemax cinemas or for a performance of the environmental theater by ShowDeTom.

In addition to the main prize, Orange donated 50 tablets, which were awarded to the top individuals in the collection of old phones throughout the competition. The first place, with 309 collected mobile phones, was won by a student from the Stará Lesná Kindergarten.

Recyklohry and Orange also consider the role of coordinators in schools and the work they have done in organizing this competition. Therefore, coordinators in schools were also rewarded, receiving 80 shopping vouchers.

“This year’s competition for collecting old mobile phones exceeded expectations, and we are glad that schools participated in large numbers again this year, breaking the record for the number of collected phones,” expressed Alena Magyarics, the project manager of Recyklohry, with enthusiasm.

“Such great results in collecting old mobile phones pleasantly surprised us. Thanks to the cooperation between Recyklohry and Orange Slovensko, we can educate students in schools about the proper handling of electronic waste through this form of personal experience with collection,” said Ronald Blaho, the director of ASEKOL SK.

“We are extremely pleased with the successful fifth year of Recyklohry and the record number of collected devices. The collaboration with ASEKOL is very professional. Each year, together with the schools, we try to collect as many old, unused mobile phones as possible and ensure their ecological recycling. At the same time, we care about providing students and teachers with useful information in this area and rewarding them for their initiative,” says Andrea Ungvölgyi, CSR expert, Orange Slovensko, a.s.