Reusing and recycling mobile phones

The fast pace of development in mobile technology leads consumers to perceive that mobile phones quickly become outdated. People in high-income countries typically replace their handset every 18 months, often replacing used phones that are still in good condition.

We collect used mobile phones, along with accessories such as batteries, chargers and headsets. Many are refurbished for reuse. When a handset cannot be refurbished, it can be broken down into component parts for recycling.

This has many benefits:

• It reduces waste and prevents potentially harmful substances leaking into the environment from landfill
• It extends the life of useful components, reducing the need for energy and raw materials to make new phones
• It enables people who could not afford a new phone to buy cheaper, refurbished phones, bringing economic benefits in developing and middle-income countries. See access to communications in emerging markets.

Sixteen of our local operating companies already have handset reuse and recycling programmes in place, and Vodafone Turkey is establishing such a programme. We run campaigns and use incentives to encourage recycling, as only a small proportion of handsets are returned.

The number of used mobile phones collected in developing and emerging economies is very low, as people in these countries often refurbish and recycle phones until close to the end of their useful life. It is often unclear where components that are no longer useable end up in countries that lack the infrastructure to manage disposal of electronics. To address this, we commissioned sustainable development organisation Forum for the Future to carry out a study into handset recycling in developing countries and ran a pilot project in Kenya in 2007/08 based on the findings.