A CHILDREN’S orphanage in Ružomberok received twenty mobile phones for its children from an unexpected source – the phones were made operable again from salvaged parts and batteries from more than a hundred mobile phones that would have been disposed of otherwise. The old mobile phones were donated by employees of Mondi SCP company, a pulp and paper mill in Ružomberok, as part of its corporate recycling programme.
The environmental manager of Mondi SCP, Marianna Matajová, told the TASR newswire that in this day and age it is typical for people to just dispose of devices and equipment that are old or are not working properly, adding that some devices should be recycled or repaired so that they are usable again. Employees of Mondi SCP responded to the firm’s appeal to dispose of their unwanted mobile phones in an ecological way and then it was discovered that some of the devices could be repaired by using parts from various models.
The company’s environmental perspicacity also provided a social benefit as the twenty phones are now being sued by children in the orphanage. The president of Mondi SCP, Roman Senecký, said that it is always best to do the environmentally-correct thing and sometimes it even brings unforeseen benefits. Štefan Likavčan, the head of the Ružomberok children’s home, thanked Mondi SCP for the phones, adding that due to the long-term support from the paper company the children’s home has been able to improve the living conditions of the 60 children currently living in the orphanage.
