WorldLoop & Recupel win 2014 Sustainable Partnership Award


Brussels, June 3, 2014 – On Tuesday, June 3 leading figures from business and the non-profit sector gathered in Brussels for the presentation of the Sustainable Partnerships Award 2014. The sustainability networks Business & Society Belgium and KAURI were given the honor to distribute this award for the second consecutive year for the most inspiring collaborations between business and civil society in Belgium. The partnership “Changing the e-waste Cycle” between Recupel and WorldLoop received first place.

The partnership was developed by Belgian organizations, but its impact is most apparent in the South. Through Changing the e -waste cycle, WorldLoop, Recupel, Close the Gap, Umicore, Coolrec, Galloo, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and others are working together to address the environmental risks of electronic waste (e-waste) in Africa. Recupel provides its expertise in the collection and processing of waste electrical appliances to WorldLoop while also providing financial support to facilitate the creation of e-waste recycling centers in Africa. WorldLoop projects combine a best-of-two-worlds approach: local collection and manual dismantling of e-waste through formal and informal networks on the one hand, and use of international infrastructure and expertise for the end-processing of complex and hazardous e-waste fractions. Since its start in 2011, 954 tons of e-waste has been collected and properly recycled and these projects have created over 50 local jobs. To make recycling certain e-waste environmentally WorldLoop has partnered with end-processors and refiners Umicore, Coolrec and Galloo.

Jury chairman and KVS – director Jan Goossens praised all participating organizations for “their courage to dare to look back at the creation of shared value across organizational boundaries.”

Watch the Video

Read the full press release: