O2 makes headway in e-scrap collection

United Kingdom – Mobile operator O2 has saved 142 000 kg of e-waste from UK landfills through its O2 Recycle initiative. Over 1.4 million devices have been sent in to the group’s recycling service since the initiative was rolled out in 2009.

O2 has paid out a total of £100 million (US$ 150 million) to consumers wanting to part with their old mobile phones and tablets over the last couple of years; in 2014 alone, 420 000 devices were recycled by O2, with iPhones topping the list in representing 41% of the total volume.

Nine out of 10 gadgets are typically repurposed in order to reduce their environmental impact, the company points out.  The scheme is available to O2 and non-O2 customers alike and since the launch has raised over £3 million (US$ 4.5 million) for O2′s Think Big youth initiatives, funding UK social action projects.

′Looking at the nation as a whole, Bristol is the UK′s number one city for recycling mobile devices, followed by Sheffield, Glasgow and Birmingham,′ it is noted. ′However, London falls outside of the top 10, with only one person in every 155 recycling.′ Indeed, there are still many more devices that could be recycled.

′Green Alliance currently estimates that in the UK alone there are around 76 million phones left unused around people′s homes, worth an estimated £3 billion,′ O2 stresses.

For more information, visit: www.o2.co.uk