WEEE-4-EE is a platform to donate WEEE for the sake of education and environment; a closed loop for transferring a social good. With the help of WEEE-4-EE, the donor gets a chance to help lift students in need out of poverty and a chance for WEEE to circulate in the economy in an environmentally sound way, by engaging trained volunteers to inspect recycling efforts by licensed plants and keep inventory of accessed WEEE on site.

Since its kickoff; the project reached out to; 2.480 scholars, 230 tons of WEEE donation and 305 collection points. In 2019 the biggest telecommunication company in Turkey Turkcell decided support WEEE – 4 – EE by merging a sister project: Recycle to Education. By 2020, a new beneficiary: KAHEV, an organization providing scholarship to students; kids of healthcare providers who were deceased during pandemic was added.

With donations made by WEEE collections under WEEE-4-EE, we were able to technologically furnish our stakeholders’ 72 educational centers in 51 different cities; by placing refurbished items off of donated WEEE (53 desktop computers, 21 LapTops, 11 projectors, 6 laser printers). By providing resources and technological supplies we aim to create technological literacy and encourage investment in human capital where it is most needed.

https://www.turkcell.com.tr/egitime-donustur/index.html

• Türkiye (Republic of)

• Youth
• Older persons
• Women
• People with disabilities
• The poor
• Remote and rural communities
• scholarship to students; kids of healthcare providers who were deceased during pandemic

WEEE-4-EE is an expandable collaboration project, reflecting the values of its sponsors and reaching out to a new target donor group each time. In 2016, following the good word on "Students Collect WEEE" campaign of TUBISAD, the first protocol of partnership for WEEE-4-EE was signed between TEGV and TUBISAD.

In 2018 a total of 800 young people, without access to education were supported through the WEEE donations. The next milestone under the same concept came thru in 2019, by merging powers with Turkcell. The successfull communication campaign held by Turkcell attracted more donors and beneficiaries such as Darüşşafaka; a Society established in 1863 for Equality of Opportunity in Education. By 2020, a new beneficiary: KAHEV, an organization providing scholarship to students; kids of healthcare providers; was added to WEEE-4-EE. This time as off August 2020 all the WEEE accessed was directly donated as moneytary funds to students whose parrents were healthcare providers and were decaesed during pandemic.

With this project Turkcell has been a pioneer in IT industry, Turkcell has taken an exemplary step, and it is our desire to set a precedent by different brands for correct WEEE management. Naturally, when the project was opened to external stakeholders, TUBISAD made additional modules to its software system and made it available for use.

This new module was then put together as a mobile application and now is serving the Rotary Foundation of Turkey. TUBISAD WEEE Team's aim is to cover the branches of banks and gas stations in Turkey and open them as WEEE Collection points.

Before TUBISAD’s intervention WEEE was sold by individual citizens to waste pickers who sold to scrap metal dealers. These economic incentives prevented scrap metal dealers from focusing on long-term benefits. The exploitation of waste pickers for the purpose of collection was a core issue TUBISAD had to address because member companies were finding corporate WEEE that was meant for recycling was finding its way on to the second-hand market. WEEE purchased by these scrap dealers was accumulated in non-licensed facilities; hand separated under unhealthy conditions; and sold for illegal trafficking abroad, causing transboundary pollution.

Given these circumstances, TUBISAD put together its first of many WEEE collection campaigns, with effective community engagement; starting with the “Student to Student WEEE Donation” Campaign. This campaign was followed by many others (*pdf attachment) that led TUBISAD to form its umbrella project; a.k.a. WEEE-4-EE; feeding into the same sustainable development goals.

WEEE-4-EE is a platform to donate WEEE for the sake of education and environment; a closed loop for transferring a social good. With the help of WEEE-4-EE, the donor gets a chance to help lift students in need out of poverty and a chance for WEEE to circulate in the economy in an environmentally sound way, by engaging trained volunteers to inspect recycling efforts by licensed plants and keep inventory of accessed WEEE on site. At this point, cooperation with non-profit Education Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV) had a positive impact on WEEE-4-EE.
Educational inequality based on wealth and geography is the prime motivator of TUBISAD’s education efforts. Metacognitive skills are neglected in the Turkish education system, so the focus of TUBISAD is on learning by doing.

TUBISAD is a leading non-profit entity recognized by The Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization for technological waste management. In order to meet its member companies’ Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) duties, covering Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management, TUBISAD WEEE Team prioritizes creative ways to raise public awareness and digitalizes conventional waste management methods. The new spirit behind the WEEE management let the WEEE Team establish the largest collection network through existing points and new ones in Turkey. The WEEE-4-EE is an inspiring project, preventing WEEE from flowing into illegal trafficking, dropping IMEI numbers off of the system; using volunteers to activate the use of ethical recycling plants and helping people in need.