NHSZ Zounok Zrt. has been a committed partner of Szolnok’s civil communities for several years now, especially the Green Mission Association, with which we have jointly implemented several environmental, awareness-raising and community programs. The basis of our cooperation is the common goal of working for a sustainable, clean, livable city not only from a service perspective, but also as a social responsibility.

Together with our civil partners, we believe that the environmental condition of a settlement is not just a technical or professional issue, but a community matter. The Green Mission Association has been an active driver of Szolnok’s environmental education, public education, and field programs for several years – their experience and approach are naturally linked to NHSZ’s circular thinking and waste management expertise. We therefore developed the Waste Reduction Week actions in close cooperation with them.

The theme of the 2025 European Week for Waste Reduction – reducing electronic waste and responsible waste management – ​​is particularly relevant, as e-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world. These devices can contain hazardous substances, but also large amounts of valuable raw materials – copper, lithium, gold and rare earth metals – which, when recycled, significantly reduce the burden on the environment.

From the service side, one of the most important tasks of NHSZ is to raise the public’s awareness of the correct and legally compliant disposal of waste. This is particularly important in the case of electronic waste, as on the one hand they contain hazardous substances (e.g. mercury, lead, cadmium, lithium), which, if handled incorrectly, can leak into soil and water, endanger human health, pose a fire or explosion hazard (e.g. lithium batteries), and on the other hand they are carriers of valuable raw materials that can be recovered through recycling and reduce the environmental impact of extraction.
Improperly disposed or illegally dumped e-waste can lead to serious environmental pollution, fires, or the risk of accidents. That is why we consider it extremely important that the public is aware of the role of waste yards and make use of their safe, free or discounted services.
In many households in and around Szolnok, there are electronic devices that no longer work, are outdated, or simply “forgotten” and are resting deep in the drawer. Our goal is to bring these back into circulation, while showing through community experiences that waste reduction is a shared responsibility – and a shared success.
The Waste Reduction Week programs are thus built on three pillars:
– public involvement, encouragement and collection,
– family education programs,
– educational interactive games that can be taken to school.
Our main goal is to have as many social actors (residents, families, schools, civil organizations) as possible participate in waste reduction campaigns in Szolnok and its surroundings and to have as many people as possible understand: every returned phone, charger, small device or battery counts.

IN THE TRACKS OF HIDDEN VALUES – campaign

1. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT – “RESEARCH, GIVE IN AND WIN!”
The campaign aims to encourage the public to dispose of their electronic waste properly, thereby increasing the number of visitors to waste disposal sites and reducing illegal dumping. The program emphasizes the importance of recycling and the circular economy among EWWR’s priorities.
Electronic waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing type of waste in the world today. Tens of thousands of tons are generated in Hungary every year, and a significant part of it is still not disposed of properly or is not recycled at all.
In many cases, the public throws it in the trash, places it during waste disposal (which is prohibited), stores it in drawers at home, or – in worse cases – disposes of it illegally. This poses a serious environmental, health and economic risk.
The campaign aims to address this problem at a community level, in a playful and motivating way, and to get as many residents as possible to take their household electronic waste to waste disposal sites, i.e. to a legal and safe place.
This reduces the number of illegal disposals, reduces environmental impact, prevents fires, soil and water pollution, and increases the population’s sense of security and environmental awareness.
The campaign works with a reward mechanism (scratch lottery ticket, code registration), which motivates participation, connects an experience to environmental action, and allows residents who would not do it on their own to join. 5 waste yards are participating in the campaign (2 in Szolnok, 1 in Mezőtúr, 1 in Törökszentmiklós, 1 in Abony), where any household electronic waste can be dropped off.
Experience shows that if the population experiences that the waste yards are tidy, helpful, easily accessible, free of charge or can be used under favorable conditions, they will return in the future.
The campaign can therefore develop a sustainable habit in the long term.

2. FAMILY PROGRAM – “GREEN MISSION: IN THE TRACKS OF LOST ENERGY”
The program is specifically aimed at involving families. Through a shared experience, children and parents will more easily understand the problem of electronic waste and will have a much greater chance of developing long-term, sustainable habits.
The choice of location — Ormos Imre Park in Szolnok — further strengthens the impact, as it is a spacious, safe, close to nature, family-friendly, easily accessible space designed for community experience.
The proximity to nature visually and emotionally supports the message that environmental protection is at stake and that “green decisions” represent real value.
Children and adults solve tasks together. This strengthens joint responsibility, exemplary parental behavior, and the experience of learning together.
During the game, each station provides information about e-waste in an experience-based format, asks questions to encourage thinking and is connected to everyday life (phone, charger, tablet, toys, small devices). This way, the knowledge is not abstract, but appears as a fact that can be immediately recognized in your own household.
While playing, children learn what goes where, why e-waste is dangerous, what happens in the scrap yard, how to recycle a phone or a wire. Parents are also reassured that they should not throw it away, but rather take it back and recycle it.
The program is an interactive, QR-code detective game that encourages families to move, think and learn in the open air. Families receive a “detective sheet” with QR pictograms and space for answers. There are 6–7 stations in the park with QR codes (on benches, bins, trees, information boards). Each QR code contains a question or puzzle about e-waste, a short educational information, and a letter/number for the final solution. The solution is a password that can be exchanged for a gift when spoken.

3. SCHOOL PROGRAM – “GREEN CODE: THE MISSION OF LOST ENERGY”
“Green Code” is a mobile, easy-to-install escape room-like educational program based on experiential pedagogy. The program aims to provide students with a playful, interactive way to learn about the problem of electronic waste, proper waste management, and the principles of the circular economy.
The program directly increases students’ knowledge of e-waste and its dangers, emphasizes the importance of waste prevention, reuse, and proper collection, develops a conscious, environmentally friendly attitude, encourages responsible consumer behavior through practical examples, and in the long term, positively influences families’ waste management habits.
The program is flexible, easily accessible to any school, and makes one of the most important environmental challenges tangible for children in an experiential way: the responsible use of electronic devices and the safe, regular disposal of waste.
The program consists of two main parts:
1. Educational presentation (15–20 minutes), which clearly presents the path of e-waste from production to recycling, emphasizing the environmental role of proper disposal.
2. Escape room-style team game (30–40 minutes), where students solve 5 different tasks to recover “lost energy”. The tasks are related to problems related to electronic waste: device lifespan, repairability, raw material cycle, management of hazardous materials, and the importance of recycling.
During the game, participants solve logical tasks, each of which gives a code fragment, from which the team compiles the “Green Code” at the end, thus symbolically “reconnecting” the energy of recycling.

4. PUBLIC COLLECTION – “PASSZOLD BACK, BRO!” MOBILE PHONE COLLECTION ACTION
NHSZ Zounok Zrt. joins the “Passzold back, bro!” national mobile phone collection program. Our goal is to collect 950 used mobile phones, thus connecting with the 950th anniversary program series of Szolnok, which makes the involvement of the public in the matter even more significant.
This quantity in itself represents a significant supply of raw materials and is an excellent illustration of circular thinking.
The campaign encourages the public to responsibly dispose of “forgotten” phones lying in drawers, thus returning valuable raw materials to the economic cycle.
The collection boxes will be placed in several locations in the city, making them easier for the public to access.

5. PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL LECTURE
The professional content of the Waste Reduction Week will be further strengthened by the fact that a special, nationally significant lecture will take place on November 28, 2025 (Friday) from 5:00 p.m. at the Green Szolnok by NHSZ civil house.
The speaker of the event:
Amb. Dr. Barbara Wassen, PhD
Travelling Ambassador for Climate Affairs and Climate Diplomacy
State Secretariat for Circular Economy and Climate Policy
Ministry of Energy
Dr. Barbara Wassen will bring her 45-60 minute interactive presentation entitled “Climate Change on a Small and Large Scale” to Szolnok. The program presents the causes, spatial scales, social impacts and everyday action options of climate change in an understandable format. The presentation is perfectly connected to the topic of reducing electronic waste, as it:
– highlights the connections between device use, consumer habits and waste production;
– emphasizes the importance of the circular economy;
– reinforces the vision-forming goals that form the core mission of the EWWR;
– promotes community thinking about sustainability and responsible resource use.
The program is open and free, but pre-registration is required so that the organizers can ensure adequate seating.