Zain Bahrain felicitates participating schools of its 'e-Waste School competition'

• Zain Bahrain hosted a virtual event under the patronage of H.E Dr. Mohamed Bin Mubarak Bin Daina, Special envoy for Climate Affairs and Chief Executive of the Supreme Council for Environment and the Ministry of Education.
• The competition is part of Zain Bahrain’s ‘e-Waste Recycling Initiative’ falling under its flagship sustainability project. 

Manama, Bahrain:  Zain Bahrain, the leading Mobile Broadband network operator in the Kingdom hosted a virtual event under the patronage of H.E Dr. Mohamed Bin Mubarak Bin Daina, Special envoy for Climate Affairs and Chief Executive of the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE) and Ministry of Education (MOE), to felicitate the schools participating in its ‘e-Waste School Competition’. The contest aimed to raise awareness and promote recycling of electronic waste amongst students of schools in the Kingdom. As part of the initiative, students from participating schools: Al-Estiqlal Secondary Girls School, Al Noor International School, Ghazi al-Gosaibi Secondary School for Girls, and Jidhafs Secondary School, collectively managed to accumulate 10.5 tons of e-waste. 

The school competition is part of Zain Bahrain’s ‘e-Waste Recycling Initiative’ which falls under its flagship sustainability project. The sustainability project is a corporate responsibility initiative to promote environmental awareness and to find a solution to the growing waste through responsible e-Waste management. The competition was well received by schools in Bahrain and aims to instill environmental awareness among the youth at an early age and to responsibly recycle electronic waste. Zain Bahrain as a responsible corporate has continuously devised initiatives to bring in a positive change in the Kingdom in alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), particularly SDG 11 for Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 12 for Responsible Consumption and Production. The company also encourages and inculcates the importance of e-Waste recycling amongst its employees and has a large drop box located at Zain Bahrain's headquarters in the Seef District, in which to place any unwanted electrical devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops, TV’s, displays, and devices with a circuit board.

The virtual event commenced with speeches delivered by Zain Bahrain, the Supreme Council for Environment, and the Ministry of Education, Crown Industries, followed by the felicitation ceremony. During the session, representatives from the schools shared their experiences and spoke about their journey of creating awareness and collecting e-waste. The winners were evaluated by a committee consisting of representatives from Zain Bahrain, the Supreme Council for Environment, and the Ministry of Education.  The winning schools were recognized for their efforts across four different categories: the award for ‘Biggest Collection of e-Waste’ was received by Jidhafs Secondary School; the ‘Teamwork’ award was received by Ghazi al-Gosaibi Secondary School for Girls; the ‘Creativity’ award was awarded to Al Noor International School and Al-Estiqlal Secondary Girls School received the ‘Best Awareness Campaign' award.

Commenting on the successful completion of the e-Waste School Competition, H.E Dr. Mohamed Bin Mubarak Bin Daina, Special envoy for Climate Affairs and Chief Executive of the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE) stated, “Our goal is to create a climate-conscious mindset amongst students by promoting education around e-Waste in Bahrain schools. We provide lectures to the youth about recycling e-Waste, and its impact on the environment. We are pleased to have collaborated with Zain Bahrain and the Ministry of Education to derive this purpose-driven initiative that has managed to push the envelope on critical environmental topics and educating and improving the lives of the community.”

Commenting on the e-Waste school competition, Sh. Abdulla bin Khaled Al Khalifa, Director, Communication and Investors Relations, at Zain Bahrain said, “We have devised the competition to motivate and encourage school students to become advocates for responsible e-Waste handling and collection so that they understand the potential threat it has to human health and the environment. Zain Bahrain believes that making our future generation aware about the hazards of e-Waste is of utmost importance and which will not only reduce toxic pollution but will prevent further degradation of our environment.” He further added, “We are thrilled to see so many school students participate in our e-Waste competition this year and would like to thank each one of them for participating. As a corporate, we recognize that we play an instrumental role in transforming societies at large and are committed to continuing to create a positive and long-lasting change through our sustainability projects in the Kingdom.” 

An elated Ms. Maryam Moosa Ali, Head of Culture Department, Ministry of Education, said, “We believe in educating students to actively participate in saving the environment as they are the future of our country. We not only focus on teaching them to preserve resources but also encourage them to minimize e-waste. We aim to instill in them the importance of electronic recycling since dumping will only add to global warming. I am happy to see the participation and interest shown by schools and students and would further encourage parents to educate and enroll their kids in future programs.”

Zain Bahrain’s Manager, Sustainability & Inclusivity, Ms. Fatema Haider commented, “At Zain Bahrain, we have included certain stringent targets as part of our sustainability strategy and have embedded waste management policies to manage waste in an efficient and sustainable manner. We are happy to have included initiatives and competitions as part of our ongoing awareness embedment activities that not only educate students continuously on e-Waste but also helps us to achieve sustainable growth and address our environmental footprint.” 

At the end of the event, Zain Bahrain encouraged the students and citizens to take on e-Waste recycling in order to prevent thousands of toxic chemicals from entering the local ecosystem. The company emphasized that instead of burning and dumping unwanted electronics, selling or donating them online or finding ways to fix them, can fundamentally reduce e-Waste's negative impact on the environment. To know more about Zain Bahrain’s ‘e-Waste initiative’ visit: https://www.bh.zain.com/en/cs/ewaste 

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About Zain Bahrain:

Zain Bahrain, a telecommunications industry innovator focused on enhancing customer experience, was awarded a mobile telecom license on 22 April 2003 and commenced commercial operations on 28 December 2003. The operation promptly placed Bahrain on the world telecom map through the introduction of many mobile technology innovations that continue to this day with nationwide high-speed 4G LTE and 5G services being offered through the Kingdom's most advanced mobile network. Zain Bahrain, listed on the Bahrain Bourse (Ticker: ZAINBH), is part of Zain Group, a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa, which provides mobile voice and data services to 48.5 million active customers as at 31 March, 2021. With a commercial presence in seven countries, Zain operates in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and South Sudan. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in 'INWI,' through a joint venture. For more information, please email info@bh.zain.com   or visit: www.bh.zain.com 

© Press Release 2021