Mobile phone companies commit to environmental action plan

Mobile phone companies commit to environmental action plan

A group of mobile manufacturers, network operators, suppliers, recyclers, consumer and environmental organisations, led by Nokia, has committed to improve the environmental performance of mobile phones and to do more to raise consumer awareness and participation in take-back and recycling. The group was created as part of a European Commission pilot project looking at how different industries could work with stakeholder groups to reduce the environmental impact of their products throughout their lifecycle.

Nokia proposed the mobile phone sector to the Commission. Other members of the voluntary group were Motorola, Panasonic Mobile Communications, France Telecom/Orange, Vodafone, TeliaSonera AB, Intel, Epson, Spansion and Umicore, and environmental experts from the WWF, the Finnish Environmental Institute, the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the European Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC).

The group has agreed upon a series of new initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of mobile phones. These include reducing energy consumption, eliminating the use of specific materials of concern, improving the amount of phones collected through take-back schemes and recycled, and giving consumers more environmental information about products. Veli Sundbäck, Executive Vice-President Corporate Relations and Responsibility, Nokia, said, “Managing environmental performance is an important responsibility for the entire mobile sector.

By working together with environmental groups we have been able to find new ways to make improvements at each stage of a mobile phone’s lifecycle, from when it is made right through to how it can be recycled. We are now committed to turning these ideas into action and maintaining a long-term commitment to this issue.” He added, “This project has also created valuable learnings for the Commission on effective policy and approaches to regulation, and we hope they will take these into account in the development of future environmental legislation.”

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