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Mobile Phone Companies Collaborate to Reduce Environmental Concerns
TMCnet Assistant Editor
The environment, precious and wonderful as it is, continues to be damaged on a daily basis. Recognizing that a clean, healthy environment is necessary for future survival, a focus on preservation remains constant.
The mobile phone sector is now stepping up their responsibility to the environment in a recent pilot project set forth by the European Commission and proposed by Nokia. Together Nokia ( News - Alert) and companies including Motorola ( News - Alert), Vodafone, Spansion ( News - Alert), Intel ( News - Alert), TeliaSonera AB and others as well as environmental experts have joined forces to promote and better the environmental usage of mobile devices.
Environmental concerns for mobile devices stem from their production phase, throughout their usage, and even after they are discarded.
Discarding mobile phones is not as easy as just throwing them into the trash. There are many environmental concerns including toxic materials used in their production.
As part of the announced initiative, the companies have come together to address some of these areas where improvement can occur and will work to devise solutions for making mobile phones better for the environment. These areas include:
-Reducing Energy Consumption-
To help save energy, manufacturers have agreed to include within phones, a reminder alert to unplug a phone once its been recharged.
-Eliminating the Use of Materials of Concern-
By eliminating or reducing toxic materials used in the production of mobile phones, even beyond regulatory standards, concerns for the environment will be lessened.
According to a news release, Nokia, whose products are already free of PVC is now taking strides to ensure that Brominated Flame Retardants (BFR) will also no longer be used in production of their phones.
-Increasing the Amount of Phones in Take-Back and Recycling Initiatives-
Seeking out ways to get consumers to bring back their unwanted phones is key in ensuring they are recycled properly. The group is looking into plans that are currently producing high response and looking to incentive programs as a possibility.
-Providing Customers with Environmental Information about their Products-
By extending this responsibility and knowledge to consumers, the new initiative also provides greater awareness of the environment and mobile phones involvement in it.
The group is comprised of mobile phone manufacturers, network operators, suppliers, recyclers, consumer and environmental organizations.
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