Nokia Care outlets continue to take back

09 September 2009

Following the local launch of the global Nokia take back programme in June 2008, Nokia has successfully completed the process of installation of take back bins at over 35 Nokia outlets throughout the country. Between 65 and 80 percent of a Nokia mobile phones can be recycled and devices collected in the Nokia take-back bins are forwarded to qualified recyclers for responsible reclaiming of the materials.

The local initiative forms part of Nokia’s global take-back scheme which currently covers 85 countries. The campaign calls not only for the return of old Nokia devices, but rather any manufacturer device can be dropped in the bins.

“Since the start of the campaign we have had a very positive response from our trade customer as well as our end users,” comments Matthew Channing, Nokia’s head of customer care in Sub Saharan Africa. “We are seeing more and more customers returning their old and broken devices for recycling at our Care points and we are ramping up awareness through a radio campaign to ensure people know about this environmentally friendly solution.”

This year we again held a recycling collection drive at two of the county’s busiest shopping malls, one in Durban and one in Pretoria.  Over 447 devices were collected in Durban alone, more than four times the amount that was collected in the first drive in 2008.  As part of this year’s campaign, which coincided with Arbor Week in South Africa, Nokia established a sustainable Food Garden at a school in Orange Farm, working closely with NPO The Food Gardens Foundation in Johannesburg  http://www.foodgardensfoundation.org.za/

Energy saving chargers

Two thirds of the energy consumed by a mobile phone charger during its usage is lost when the phone is fully charged and unplugged but the charger is left connected to the mains, this is termed “no-load” mode. In an effort to reduce this energy loss, Nokia became the first mobile manufacturer to put alerts into phones encouraging people to unplug their chargers when not in use.

Nokia started this campaign with the introduction of three mass market phones, a move that alone could save enough energy a year to power 100 000 average sized homes. The alerts have now been included across Nokia’s product range.

Energy use in Nokia facilities

“Twenty-five percent of the electricity used in Nokia facilities is from renewable sources and we have a global target to increase this to 50% in 2010”, continues Channing. “From 2003 to 2006, Nokia increased energy saving in our facilities around the world to 3,5 percent. We are targeting further progress in this area, aiming to achieve a cumulative saving of 6 percent before 2012 in our annual facilities energy consumption,” concludes Channing.

Environmental friendly packaging

In a move to reduce Nokia’s footprint, smaller device packaging was created in February 2006 using less than half of the normal materials. Accessories packaging was also redesigned to reduce the amount of plastic used by 60 percent. The cardboard used in Nokia packaging has been made significantly thinner.

 By the end of 2007 Nokia  shipped 250 million phones using the compact packaging resulting in 5000 fewer trucks needed to distribute products around the world and creating financial saving of over R700 million.

For more information on Nokia’s recycling activities visit www.nokia.com/werecycle

• Category: Environment/Sustainable Business
• Tags: recycle, nokia, back, take