Under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Personal Representative of His Majesty the King, President of the Supreme Council for Environment
Zain Bahrain Launches Second 'e-waste Campaign' with SCE, UNIDO and UNDP
Manama –04 June 2015: Zain Bahrain, the most innovative operator in the Kingdom, announced the launch of its second National Mobile Phone and e-Waste Recycling Campaign in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE), with the outreach support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The e-waste that will be collected through the drop boxes will be sorted and professionally disposed of in the safest manner possible by Zain Bahrain, who has engaged Enviroserve, a respected environmental waste disposal company. The mobile and electronic devices will then be reused through a professional company specializing in this field.
The first phase of the campaign will see Zain Bahrain placing drop boxes at both their headquarters, SCE's headquarters and UNIDO's headquarters in the Seef District where the public will be encouraged to dispose any form of unused electronics.
The operator will also be expanding its reach during the the campaign by placing drop boxes in different public locations such as schools, malls and other key locations in hopes of educating and inspiring students and residents to help make a difference in the environment and support the movement for a cleaner, greener Bahrain.
H.E. Dr. Mohamed Bin Daina, Executive Director of the Supreme Council for Environment said, "We live in world that cannot sustain our current consumption patterns, and we need to take action now to sustainably manage our planet for our future generations. "
The campaign takes place in line with this year's celebrations of the World Environment Day on 5 June, themed "Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care".
In the Kingdom of Bahrain, no matter how small, we need to play our part, to flourish over the dreams we have today." Said Dr. Bin Daina.
"Electronic waste is an epidemic growing at three times the rate of municipal waste. Though e-waste makes up 3-5% of the waste stream, the amount of overall toxic waste is 70%. When e-waste is sent to landfill, toxic chemicals in electronics products can leach into the land over time or are released into the atmosphere, impacting nearby communities and the environment," he added.
"The negative impacts of e-waste on the environment and humans are increasingand multiplying with time.According to UNEP, the worldwide total for E-waste could reach 50 million tons per year," he elaborated.
Studies have proved that the heavy metals in a mobile phone are capable of contaminating 600,000 liters of water. If we recycle one million mobile phones, it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 1,368 cars off the road for a year," he said.
"The Supreme Council for Environment has coordinated with the Ministry of Education in order to arrange for school visits, where SCE and Zain will promote the campaign in schools to raise awareness among students as they are the basis of the community," Acting Director of International Relations &Media, Amna Al Rumaihi Said.
"Zain Bahrain is pleased with the results of the Zain National Mobile Phone and e-Waste Recycling Campaign launched in 2011. We believe that it has awakened the public to the danger of carelessly disposing of mobile phones and batteries which make up the bulk of e-waste," said Zain Bahrain's Corporate Communications Manager, Samya Hussain.
"This time around, we have decided to expand our reach and address a larger audience. We look forward to collaborate with SCE and UNIDO and UNDP that will allow us to tap into the community and promote environmental awareness," Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Pakiza Abdulrahman said.
"It is very important for the public to understand the reason behind this initiative. Every day, hundreds of phones are disposed of to landfill sites destroying our natural habitat with acids and hazardous products which then enter our groundwater system. This can be easily averted because the bulk of a mobile handset consists of components that are plastic, ceramic, or metals. Almost all components of a mobile handset can be either recycled or used in a way so that nothing goes into landfills as e-waste," she said.
