INDIA – We’ve been running around wearing only fig leaves for a couple of weeks here on Conversations, going au natural when it comes to all things eco in our easy to be green project. We’re not the only ones flying the green flag though, as we discovered earlier today when we had our attention grabbed by the recycling buzz that has gripped India and resulted in some great sustainability results. Read on to find out more about this ongoing eco project.
Planet ke Rakhwaale (Saviours of the Planet) is a recycling project that kicked off as a pilot in India back in early 2009 and went national in September. It remains an ongoing environmental initiative in India and since its launch it’s hit 28 cities. As of today the result of this drive has astonishingly seen over 500,000 (and counting) phones and accessories collected for recycling – that’s 15.6 tons! These were collected via over 1,400 recycling collection points that have been set up across India.
The ongoing campaign is fronted by Shahrukh Khan, the country’s biggest Bollywood star, and has attracted the attention of over 145 million people living in India, helping bring the important topic of recycling old devices to the fore. In tandem with this exposure, over 8,000 Nokia staff have been trained up on the matter of recycling to assist anyone interested in disposing of their old device in a responsible way that will see it safely broken down so its parts can be eco-harvested for use in anything from saxophones to dental fillings.
If you’re living in India or are just interested in finding out more, it’s worth visiting the Planet ke Rakhwaale website for the full lowdown and for details on where you can drop your old phone for recycling.