Vodafonefresh from the top in the nPerf ranking on navigation speed in Italy, has announced an important project aimed at reduce the impact on the environment across the reuse and recycling of smartphones, incentivizing their customers to trade in and return their old devices. The circular economy initiative is carried out in close collaboration with Recommerce and will relate starting next spring the entire European territory.
They will therefore be made available to customers insurance, repair and technical support all integrated into a single package:
- insurance for the purchase of a new smartphone, including accidental damage coverage
- exchange via app
- fast repair
- sale of used and refurbished smartphones
- encourage customers to return old smartphones to Vodafone for recycling or reuse
Vodafone also announces that “will launch a new digital platform that will make it extremely easy for customers to evaluate the different offers to proceed with the trade-in of their smartphones“. Each device will then be evaluated by Vodafone itself which will opt for recycling, reuse, depending on the case.”for social or charitable purposes“or re-placing on the market”at competitive prices” how refurbished smartphones. The collaboration with Recommerce will be used for the management of the exchange.
Vodafone reports some numbers that testify how extending the life cycle of a mobile device can reduce the impact of CO2 on the environment:
- keeping a smartphone for an extra year can save up to 29% CO2 over its entire life cycle
- buying a refurbished smartphone means saving about 50kg of CO2 and 164kg of raw materials
- 1 million smartphones received by Vodafone and destined for refurbishment can lead to 50,000 tons of CO2 avoided
Electronic waste is a problem that can no longer be postponed, and in Italy there is still no real awareness:
The next frontier of our strategy for the planet centers on the realization of a more circular economy for consumers and for the industry, both working individually and in collaboration with partners, developing innovative programs that can address the growing challenges related to electronic waste.
The initiative launched last October, which involves the use of Eco-SIM made of recycled plastic and smaller than those currently on the market, also moves in the same direction.
