MANILA, Philippines - In celebration of Environment Month, leading non-bank financial services provider M. Lhuillier donated 222 old mobile phones, batteries and chargers to the Globe Telecom recycling program to help promote proper e-waste disposal and educate the public about the potential environmental harm of improperly disposed electronic gadgets.
This also coincided with Globe Telecom’s two-day recyclables collection event that encouraged employees to convert their trash into cash for a clutter-free environment.
Proceeds from both activities will go to the protection of the Philippine tarsier and its habitat through the Philippine Tarsier Foundation Inc., the primary beneficiary of the recycling program.
“We decided to participate in this program as we support a better and cleaner process of disposing the defective units to protect the environment for the future generation,†said MLFSI executive vice president Charles Lhuillier. The old cellular phones and accessories were used as service units of M. Lhuillier branches.
“Being a company committed to environment sustainability, Globe takes environmental protection as a priority consideration. We continuously create initiatives as part of our commitment to care for our planet such as energy management, reduction of greenhouse emissions and waste recycling. This program should serve as a reminder to everyone on the importance of responsible disposal of old mobile phones and its impact on the environment,†said Yoly Crisanto, Globe’s corporate communications head.
Talking more about the rationale for the program, she added: “We want to ensure that old cellphones are not unnecessarily dumped in our landfills to minimize their potential environmental impact. Old cellphones and their batteries have toxic components such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury as well as plastic parts with brominated flame retardant which can pollute our environment and harm our health.â€
Aside from preventing environment pollution, recycling also has other benefits since precious metals and plastics are recovered. By recycling, less energy is used than mining virgin metals and producing virgin plastics. It also saves on landfill space.
So far, a total of 3,850 mobile phones have been collected nationwide and about P500,000 was donated to the foundation.