DUBAI: Emirates Environmental Group successfully closed its one-month long Mobile Collection Campaign – “Project Green Call”, that began on the 19th of March in honour of the Global Recycling Day! A total of 2,433 phones were collected from all over the UAE in just 30 days and will be sent for recycling to partnering facilities across the UAE.
EEG launched “Project Green Call” in 2016 to engage the Student Members during their Spring Break and simultaneously boost the mobile phone collection to reach the set target for 2016. In 2017, EEG decided to open the programme to all sectors of society to engage and promote the activity among the wider UAE society. In 2019, the project saw the registration of 131 entities (Including students, Corporates and Academic Members) who collectively deposited 2,433 mobile phones during the one-month period. There was a 152 % increase in the collection of Mobile Phones and 107 % increase in participation compared to 2018. The successful campaign in 2019 also saw an increase of 40 % in the number of trees that will be planted under this project as compared to 2018.
The top collectors from each category are as follows:
| Company Name | Phones Collected | Trees Secured |
| Six Construct Ltd. | 191 | 3 |
| Al Naboodah Construction Group LLC | 150 | 3 |
| Cofely Besix Facility Management | 101 | 2 |
| Academic Institution | Phones Collected | Trees Secured |
| Our Own High School, Al Warqa’a, Dubai | 325 | 5 |
| Delhi Private School, Sharjah | 140 | 2 |
| Rosary Private School | 92 | 1 |
| Student Name | Phones Collected | Trees Secured |
| Justanne Jibin | 111 | 7 |
| Shivani Adduri | 91 | 6 |
| Sivadurga Adduri | 62 | 4 |
The chairperson of EEG, Habiba Al Mar’ashi stated that, “The quantity of e-waste generated per capita in the UAE is significantly lower than the global top offenders, additionally UAE also performs better than its GCC neighbours. We must continue to work to decrease our annual e waste per capita from the current 13.6 Kg/ person to significantly lower numbers.” Mobile phones comprise of various materials, such as, plastic, gold, mercury, zinc, lead, cadmium, bromine, etc. One Tonne of e-waste contains more precious metals than one tonne of ore! Recycling mobile phones conserves these valuable materials, it also prevents air and water pollution and reduces greenhouse gas emissions that occur during manufacturing, extracting and processing of raw materials. EEG is delighted to support and promote this urban mining culture to reduce the impact on our environment. All successful participants who met the targets will plant trees in their name on the 19th of December for achieving their targets! EEG encourages everyone to reach out to learn how they can receive trees local native trees in their name for recycling through EEG! News Desk
