Arvato Cell Phone Collection In Germany

Each year, approximately 1.2 billion cell phones are sold worldwide. And when they are discarded, they usually end up in drawers, filing cabinets, and glove compartments. In Germany alone there are an estimated 72 million cell phones lying around unused. But these handsets are far from worthless: Working cell phones can be used again and defective old cell phones are real treasure troves - they contain precious metals such as copper, palladium, and even gold. About 80 percent of all the raw materials they contain can be recycled. 

In a first Germany-wide campaign of its kind, Arvato is now making sure that old phones are collected for a good cause. Since Monday staff at all Arvato’s German sites can put discarded cell phones and accessories such as charger cables and batteries in collection boxes. Staff and visitors to the Bertelsmann AG Corporate Center in Gütersloh can also throw their used cell phones in a specially set up box.

All proceeds from the campaign will go to the non-profit organization Frag Finn , which helps children surf the Internet safely and protects them from inappropriate content. For instance, the initiators have developed a special search engine for children which filters out content that could be harmful to young people. For more information visit www.fragfinn.de