“Bring it Back, Bro’!” - Spring Campaign

If you have unused, old cell phones lying around the house, do not hesitate, Bring it back, Bro’!

The Jane Goodall Institute launched the popular campaign “Bring it Back, Bro’” in partnerhsip with KÖVET Egyesület, Afrikáért Alapítvány and Védegylet Egyesület targeting the mobile phones used and stored in Hungary.

Why is this important?

Our mobile phones require minerals that pose serious environmental hazards due to their extraction. The coltan ore, used for mobile phone production, is mined in the African habitat of endangered species such as gorillas, which consumes their forests. We would like to stop this process, therefore we decided to collect these mobile phones so they can be recycled. We ask everybody to look around their homes and look for them and also a collecting point established by us and take these devices there and throw them in the boxes.

The spring campaign launched by the Green University Programme of the University of Pécs on 22 March 2022, with 24 designated collection points and will run until 22 May.

In addition, inspired by the success of last year's two campaigns, where nearly 3,000 mobile phones, totalling 340.5 kg, were collected, schools can also participate. Classes that collect most mobile phones will be rewarded. Through generous offers, group experience tickets will be shared for an environmentally conscious approach.

The aim of the collaborating organizations is to motivate more and more people to donate as many data-free mobile devices, GPS or tablets and chargers as possible, which are no longer usable, to promote a circular economy and thus help save the habitat of Congolese primates and the lives of local communities. According to the principles of the circular economy, metals extracted from the recovered phones during processing are recycled.

This campaign is proof that the University of Pécs, as Hungary’s greenest university, has long been an initiator in promoting green solutions. Chancellor István Decsi highlighted: "Going even more green is one of our most important missions because of our own future and for the future of the world. If we look back over the past decades, anyone could see the extent to which the scale of waste production in the world has increased, and for a long time, almost no one cared about this. The University of Pécs recognized in time that this issue needed to be addressed."

Environmental protection for the University of Pécs is not just a campaign, but a core value.

The list of collection points can be found on the website of the UP Green University, at this link.

“Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”

Dr. Jane Goodall, honorary doctor of the University of Pécs