OTTAWA – The Recycle My Cell Student Challenge is back for a sixth year, so c’mon kids and gather up those old mobile devices.
As the national sponsor of the 2015 Waste Reduction Week in Canada, Recycle My Cell will kick off the Student Challenge on October 19. The Challenge, running until November 18, strives to keep old wireless devices out of landfills, and aims to engage young Canadians in raising awareness about e-waste management.
The school in each province and territory that collects the most cell phones (based on school population) will be awarded $500 to be used towards a school environmental project. As a participation prize, eligible schools will receive $1 for every phone they collect and recycle through Recycle My Cell (up to a maximum of $1,000). Recycle My Cell will provide everything needed to easily set up a collection site, and upon closing of the Challenge on November 18, participating schools can drop off their boxes at any Canada Post location for free shipping. More details are available here.
More than 130 Canadian schools from across the country participated in the 2014 edition of the Challenge, collecting more than 5,000 wireless devices along with 260 kilograms of wireless accessories and cell phone batteries.
"Year after year, Canada's young people continue to show their leadership in respecting the environment," said Bernard Lord, president and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), which runs the national recycling program. "We couldn't be more pleased with the enthusiasm exhibited by students across the country when it comes to making responsible e-waste management a top priority in their communities."
The Recycle My Cell Student Challenge is made possible by the support of the Recycle My Cell partners: Bell, BlackBerry, Eastlink, GEEP, Greentec, LG Electronics Canada, Lynx Mobility, Microsoft, MTS, Rogers Communications, Samsung Electronics Canada, SaskTel, Sony Canada, Tbaytel, Telus, Videotron and Virgin Mobile Canada.
