O2 Recycle creates ‘butterfly effect’

United Kingdom – The O2 Recycle arm of UK-based telecoms provider O2, has designed a series of ‘mechanical butterflies’ to raise awareness of the short-shelf life of consumer products and to promote a new recycling campaign.

Each butterfly consists of five discarded mobile phones, from older styles through to newer iPhones. They will be displayed in shop windows and are connected to a tablet that displays a phone number. If someone rings the number, the robotic creatures come to life, each in a unique way.

Designers on the project visited the Natural History Museum in London to study the movement and structure of real butterflies for extra authenticity. They used gold-green circuit board pieces and SIM cards to imitate the scales seen on butterfly wings.

Bill Eyres, head of sustainability at O2 says: ′We can see this project creating a type of ′′butterfly effect′′. As people experience this amazing recycled technology, we hope they will be inspired to regularly recycle their old devices. Many people don′t realise that their old technology can have a second life.′

So far, O2 has recycled more than one million gadgets through its take-back scheme. Eyres adds: ′There′s an environmental need to dig out old gadgets so they can be used again. We all have a role to play in making sure that old technology lives on even when we′ve finished with it.′

For more information, visit: www.o2recycle.co.uk