How many old mobile phones, laptops, PCs, tablets and screens are in your attic? That is a question we asked our employees. In collaboration with Out Of Use, we were able to donate a piece of forest land with the proceeds from our recycled IT materials to the ‘Forest for Everyone’ project of Natuurpunt.
Everyone has some old IT or electronic equipment at home that is no longer used, is broken or can be recycled. Companies can deliver their electronic waste to Out Of Use and in return a piece of land is donated to Natuurpunt, on which trees are planted. The participating companies receive a certificate and are invited to plant the trees themselves.
As an SDG pioneer we are happy to support this project. We therefore mobilized all our employees to cooperate and linked the following SDGs to this:
- 3 – good health and well-being: everyone likes to enjoy the beautiful nature and forest around us, for walking, sports or relaxing.
- 13 – climate action: forests are under pressure from climate change, but at the same time they slow down climate change and limit its adverse effects.
- 15 – life on land: through the management of forests we contribute to the protection and restoration of the ecosystem and biodiversity.
Each PC, laptop and server provides 2m² of forest land. For every 4 mobile phones, tablets and hard drives, you again donate 1m² of planted forest in Flanders. So we launched a warm appeal to our employees to clean out their attic, cellar and garden house and to bring in all old IT and electronic materials. This resulted in a very well-filled van, with which we headed for Out Of Use.
Everything is loaded on pallets and carts on site. Afterwards, it is checked what can be reused and recycled. In our case, this resulted in 44m² of new forest land, a result we are very proud of and are happy to participate in!
In November we are all invited, together with our partners, children and grandchildren, to come and plant the saved trees.
Would you like to contribute to this project yourself? More information can be found on the Out Of Use website: https://outofuse.be/nl/recycleren-voor-natuurpunt
