Canadian Students Keep Stepping Up to the Plate for the Environment - Winners announced of the fifth annual Recycle My Cell Student Challenge

OTTAWA, March 4, 2015 /CNW/ - The results are in and Canadian students have once again demonstrated their commitment to the responsible management of e-waste. Recycle My Cell, Canada's recycling program for mobile devices and accessories, announced today the winners of the fifth annual Recycle My Cell Student Challenge. In collaboration with the 2014 Waste Reduction Week in Canada, the Challenge saw students from kindergarten to post-secondary collecting as many old wireless devices as possible, including cell phones, smartphones, pagers, accessories and cell phone batteries.

More than 130 schools from across the country participated in the 2014 edition of the Challenge, which was held from October 20 to November 21. The schools collected more than 5,200 wireless devices along with 262 kilograms of wireless accessories and batteries. The school that collected the most wireless devices in each participating province and territory, based on student population, will receive a $500 donation to support the school's green initiatives.

"Canada's young people are to be commended for their understanding that simple steps to managing e-waste will have lasting effects on our environment for generations to come," said Bernard Lord, President and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). "On behalf of the country's wireless industry, I congratulate all of the students that participated in the Challenge for once again demonstrating their environmental leadership."

"There is a lot of value in so much of what we usually toss aside and consider junk, like out-of-date or broken electronics," said Jo-Anne St. Godard, Executive Director, Recycling Council of Ontario. "Thanks to students across Canada that collected more than 5,200 devices for recycling, approximately 83 kilograms of copper and 2 kilograms of silver will be recovered."

The winning schools in the 2014 Recycle My Cell Student Challenge are:

• Coles Island School, Coles Island, New Brunswick
• Decker Colony School, Decker, Manitoba
• École Évangéline, Wellington, Prince Edward Island
• École Val-des-Ormes, Rosemère, Québec
• Edwin Parr Composite School, Athabasca, Alberta
• Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Islands Consolidated School, Freeport, Nova Scotia
• Marysville Public School, Wolfe Island, Ontario
• Princess Alexandra School, Hay River, Northwest Territories
•  Sacred Heart School, Prince George, British Columbia
• Tisdale Elementary School, Tisdale, Saskatchewan

The Recycle My Cell Student Challenge is made possible by the generous support of the Recycle My Cell Partners: Bell, BlackBerry, Eastlink, GEEP Inc., Google, GREENTEC, LG Electronics Canada, Inc., Lynx Mobility, Microsoft, MTS, ProMobility, Rogers Communications, Samsung Electronics Canada Inc., SaskTel, Sony of Canada, Tbaytel, TELUS, Videotron, and Virgin Mobile Canada.

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About Recycle My Cell
Recycle My Cell is Canada's national recycling program for mobile phones and accessories. The bilingual Web site – www.RecycleMyCell.ca and www.recyclemoncell.ca – allows consumers to simply enter their postal code to locate the 10 drop-off locations closest to them where their devices will be accepted, regardless of brand or condition. The free program is run by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), in conjunction with cell phone carriers, handset manufacturers and approved processors, who have come together to raise awareness about the importance of cell phone recycling.

About Waste Reduction Week in Canada
Waste Reduction Week in Canada was developed in 2001 by a coalition of 13 recycling councils and sister organizations from across Canada and is delivered each October by the same group. The program's goal is to inform Canadians about the environmental and social ramifications of wasteful practices. Waste Reduction Week in Canada uses its "take action" messaging to empower all Canadians to adopt more environmentally conscious choices, and provide them with information and ideas to reduce waste in all facets of daily living, creating solutions to the many environmental challenges we face. Learn more at www.wrwcanada.com.

SOURCE Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association

For further information: Marc Choma, 613-233-4888 ext. 207, [e-mail]