What to do with old cellphones? Recycle them!

Help employees recycle their old cellphones

Who doesn't have a drawer where your old cellphones end up—including those old phones that don't even have a color screen?! Often, it isn't because you don't want to recycle them, but because you don't have enough time or motivation. In short, this small act is actually too complicated.

With this in mind, the employees of the Straelen site decided to collect old cellphones and recycle them to make sure they would no longer languish in the bottom of the junk drawer!

The employees opted for collection boxes to increase participation by letting people drop off their old cellphones whenever they wanted (and when they thought about it!).

They needed to be placed in high-traffic areas. To be effective, the initiative couldn't require participants to go out of their way. The administrative floor and the cafeteria were chosen since everyone walks through there at some point.

The employees in charge of the project were also able to easily pick up the boxes to then recycle the phones properly.

By setting up collection points, the recycling process is made simpler and more visible. The boxes act as a reminder for everyone who walks past them. They show that you can recycle an old cellphone and finally clean out your junk drawer.

The project makes the most impact through its ability to educate. It raises awareness about recycling with the presence of the boxes alone! More generally, it encourages each of us to be more responsible with the way we use natural resources.

Most of us keep old cellphones in a drawer somewhere. Is it out of an unwillingness to recycle or because we don't think about the environment? Not necessarily! In part, it's because we don't really know what to do with them once they no longer work and because driving to the recycling station is inconvenient for such a small object. That's why it's important to make recycling (or any other eco-friendly act) easy for everyone. By setting up collection points for cellphones, batteries, and household appliances, it quickly becomes evident that it's a question of practicality and not a lack of willingness to recycle.