Over 200 people turned up at Uchumi Supermarket on the designated days to dispose of the old phones and accessories. In return for their support, Nokia gave away 4GB Flash Discs made from bamboo, bags recycled from Nokia N97 wall advertisements, Caps, T-shirts and many more items. The recycled prizes were given away in a move to reinforce the value of recycled items.
In addition, Robert Kituuka a resident of Katwe, won a brand new Nokia N8 phone during the raffle draw held towards the end of the campaign. Mr. Kituuka recieved his prize with much excitement and surprise as he hadn’t expected to win the much coveted latest Nokia phone in the N series.
He said, “I am so happy today that I am the lucky winner of the Nokia N8 in the recycling drive. This campaign is good because it helps to dispose of the electronic waste which would otherwise be harmful to our environment. I promise to become a Nokia recycle ambassador and encourage all my friends to bring their old phones to Nokia centres for recycling.”
Another winner of the recycled Nokia flash disc, Hilda Mawa commented,”It’s good to know that my old phone is in good hands.”
Nokia’s Senior Sustainability Manager for Middle East and Africa Elisabeth Tanguy said as the leading handset-maker in the world, Nokia is pioneering the recycling drive in order to promote efforts to safeguard the environment.
She said, “This is an exciting way of safeguarding our environment from electronic waste by recycling old phones and making them in to new products. These old phones and accessories can be used to make bicycles, dental fillings, kettles and many more.”
“I am so excited by the way Uganda has embraced the campaign as reflected by the huge turn up of people disposing of there old phones and devices. In just two days we have collected large quantities of old phones and accessories. This response has been overhwleming and I am convinced that Uganda is indeed interested in protecting their environment from electronic waste. We at Nokia promise to step up the campaign and spread out as much as possible throughout the country in order to give opportunity for more people to participate.”
“Uganda is one of the leading users of Nokia phones and products across the world. This implies that Nokia is well positioned to take a lead role in this key part of corporate responsibility in Uganda.” explained Dorothy Ooko, Nokia’s Communication manager for East and Southern Africa who was also present for the Take Back and Recycle campaign.
“We are glad that Uganda has readily accepted the campaign judging from the massive response of phone disposers. We appreciate Uganda for the strong support and it is now our responsibility to ensure sustainance for this campaign in Uganda.” said Ms Ooko.
The take-back service, offered free of charge to consumers, will help boost Nokia’s leading position inhandling electronic waste (e-waste) from the industry, currently estimated to be between 20m-50m tonnes. The Ugandan market reflects much of global survey findings which show that very few consumers are aware that they can recycle their disused mobile devices and accessories.
Currently the recycling program has 5,000 collection points in 85 countries- Nokia tries to make it easy as possible for people to recycle old and unwanted devices, chargers and mobile accessories
Phone users in Uganda can continue to take their old phones and accessories to Nokia authorized collection points at Simba Telecom and Midcom where they will receive a recycled article in exchange.
About Nokia
At Nokia, we are committed to connecting people. We combine advanced technology with personalized services that enable people to stay close to what matters to them. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia device – from mobile phones to advanced smartphones and high-performance mobile computers. Today, Nokia is integrating its devices with innovative services through Ovi (www.ovi.com), including music, maps, apps, email and more. Nokia’s NAVTEQ is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, while Nokia Siemens Networks provides equipment, services and solutions for communications networks globally.
