OTTAWA – Recycle My Cell, a national recycling program for mobile phones and accessories, announced today the winners of the third annual Recycle My Cell Student Challenge. Held again in partnership with Waste Reduction Week in Canada, the challenge saw Canadian students from kindergarten to post-secondary collecting as many old wireless devices as possible, including cell phones, smartphones, wireless PDAs, pagers, accessories and cell phone batteries.
The Challenge took place from October 15 to November 15, 2012, with 131 schools across Canada participating. A total of 4,260 cell phones were collected through the Challenge, along with over 270 kilograms of wireless accessories and batteries.
"I want to thank all of the participants in this year's Challenge for showing us again that Canadian students continue to be dedicated to the environment," said Bernard Lord, President & CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). "The success of the Recycle My Cell Student Challenge means a cleaner and more sustainable Canada for all of us, and these students should be applauded for their efforts."
"Students participating in Waste Reduction Week in Canada and the Recycle My Cell Challenge showed a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and passion for environmental stewardship," said Jo-Anne St. Godard, Secretariat of Waste Reduction Week in Canada and Executive Director, Recycling Council of Ontario. "With so many new and upgraded devices coming to market so quickly, it's imperative that we properly manage the end-of-life of the devices they replace. With only an estimated 12% of mobile devices in Canada being recycled, building awareness with our youth and helping them take action is the foundation for better recycling rates."
Based on student population, the school in the participating province or territory that collected the most cell phones and accessories will receive a $500 donation to support the school's green initiatives.
The winning schools are:
- Holyrood Elementary School, Edmonton, Alberta
- Bench Elementary School, Cowichan Bay, British Columbia
- Andrew Mynarski V. C. Junior High School, Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Tide Head Elementary School, Tide Head, New Brunswick
- Long Island Academy, Beaumont, Newfoundland and Labrador
- Dr. T.L. Sullivan Junior High School, Florence, Nova Scotia
- Antler River Elementary School, Muncey, Ontario
- Colonel Gray Senior High School, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Le Jardin des Rêves, Saint-Laurent, Québec
- Winston High School, Watrous, Saskatchewan
The Recycle My Cell Student Challenge was made possible by the support of the Recycle My Cell Partners: Bell, BlackBerry, Dell Canada Inc, Eastlink, Geep Inc., Greentec, LG Electronics Canada Inc., Lynx Mobility, Mobilicity, Motorola Mobility, MTS, Nokia, Rogers Communications, Samsung Electronics Canada Inc., SaskTel, Sims Recycling Solutions, Sony Mobile Communications, TBayTel, Telus, Videotron, Virgin Mobile Canada and Wind Mobile.
