Contributes to Computer and Mobile Phone Recycling Drives and Continues to Endorse Green Measures

Dubai Internet City (DIC), one of the largest managed ICT clusters in the region and a member of TECOM Investments, marked World Environment Day on June 5th, 2008 by making a significant contribution to a number of recycling drives in the region.

One programme is a joint initiative on ‘Computers for Recycling’ run by Dubai Municipality, Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Foundation, and Microsoft Corp that seeks to mobilise businesses by donating old computer hardware including laptops, scanners and printers. to worthy causes. These include educational institutions, as well as social and charity organizations in the UAE.

Collecting old computer equipment from business partner members, Dubai Internet City will donate 102 used desktop monitors, 73 Central Processing Units (CPU), 53 laptop computers, 24 printers and a host of other computing equipment towards the recycling project, reiterating its relentless commitment to implementing green-friendly measures in the region.

Malek Sultan Al Malek, Executive Director of DIC, said: “The increasing pressure to keep pace with the incredible progress of technology necessitates commercial enterprises to frequently replace existing computers with advanced models. Enabling others to re-use computer equipment does not only help the community but also discourages the unnecessary disposal of IT hardware that are in usable condition.

“As our gesture to mark World Environment Day, Dubai Internet City has urged all business partners to adopt responsible measures and donate outdated IT equipment including mobiles phones and batteries for the less privileged.”

Supported by Envirofone, Dubai Internet City will also facilitate the “Mobile Phone and Batteries” recycling programme where special bins across the DIC buildings will be placed for DIC members and business partners to dispose of any unwanted mobile phones and used batteries.

To foster an environment-conscious free zone, Dubai Internet City is also running a recycling campaign during the week of World Environment Day, placing bins in every building of the ICT cluster to segregate recyclable material such as paper, plastics, glass and aluminium cans. The material will be collected by Union Paper Mills, one of the largest producers of recycled paper in the Middle East.

Dubai Internet City is already part of a programme to collect and recycle waste material from 32 bins located throughout TECOM’s free zone clusters. The initiative is at the core of the ICT cluster’s corporate social responsibility agenda, in coordination with its sister entities Dubai Media City and ENPARK, as well as the Radisson SAS Hotel.

Dubai Internet City has made tremendous contributions towards the social development of the region, supporting a number of environmental and social projects. As part of its endeavour, it periodically hosts forums that explore avenues to boost entrepreneurship in the region, identifies measures to maximize the use of IT for achieving a more sustainable future, while finding ways to work with the media to disseminate messages more effectively to the public.