Wednesday 26 May 2021

New eco scheme announced to find out how sustainable your phone is

Five of Europe’s leading mobile phone operators have joined forces to launch a new eco rating scheme, helping customers compare the most sustainable phones and incentivising operators to become more sustainable.

It has been created by Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Telia to consider the environmental impacts of production, use, transportation and the disposal of mobile phones.

The eco rating scheme will be in place across 24 European countries from June 2021, allowing customers to decide which new phone is right for them from an environmental perspective.

New mobile phones will be given an overall eco rating score out of 100.

The CEOs of the five operators involved issued a statement: “Building a more sustainable future is our joint responsibility, so we believe the time is right to drive a harmonised, industry-wide eco rating scheme that will improve transparency and help raise awareness of the environmental impact of the phones that our customers choose.

“We look forward to welcoming more manufacturers and telecoms operators to the eco rating initiative in the future and we hope it will inspire the whole industry to accelerate its transition towards a more circular model for mobile phones.”