Marks & Spencer is the latest big name to move into the electronics recycling market. They have entered into a partnership with prominent UK mobile phone recyclers ShP Limited. The company has been in the mobile phone recycling business for nearly a decade and has expanded from B to B recycling to embrace a variety of groups worldwide. They have also broadened recycling to include many unwanted household electronic items.
M&S will be offering gift vouchers in return for electronic items sent in for recycling through the new website. This intiative by one of the UK’s leading retailers is aimed at reducing the huge amount of e-waste being generated annually in the UK.
The continual adavances in technology, particulary smartphones, means mobile phones rapidly become redundant. The key issue is what people do with their old phones when they upgrade. Do they sell their mobiles or carelessly discard them? The new M&S scheme will give consumers the option to receive vouchers or donate the proceeds to charity. Either way the handsets will end up being refurbished for reuse or properly recycled, which is good for the planet.
As well as being able to sell mobile phones, the new scheme will extends to MP3 players, laptops, digital cameras and satnavs. People can check out how much they can sell their phone or other gadget for on the website and can even send in worthless items that will be recycled free of charge.