On 22 July a voluntary charter for sustainable development for France’s telecom sector came into effect. The French Federation of Telecoms (FFT) has now given its commitment to the French Government to work harder to increase mobile phone recycling rates. Returned phones will be routed to approved recycling and reprocessing schemes.
One of the main challenges in France to mobile phone recycling is to persuade consumers to send in their handsets. It is reported that 76% of the population are aware that recycling is possible by taking phones into any shop. However, many don’t because they form an attachment to their phone and it becomes an objective of sentimental value, in part because it may contain memories in the form of text messages and photos.
The new charter encourages phone operators to promote ways to try and change these consumer attitudes. Some ideas are in planning with a view to conducting a large awareness initiative in September.
Further efforts will be made to promote the financial incentive to hand in old handsets that ranges from 2 to 280 euros, depending on the network and the age and condition of the phone. This has proved effective in the past. In 2008, Bouygues Telecom collected 237,000 mobiles, but this fell to just 57,000 the following year because the operator withdrew the premium of 10 euros payable for any handset returned to the shop.
Phone operators also intend to educate consumers on the environmental and social benefits of recycling, particularly in the developing world, where after collection, sorting and testing many phones can be reused.